Published 10 October 2026
A business moves premises, takes in a partner, changes its trading name or loses the director whose mobile number receives every portal OTP. Each change leaves the registration certificate out of date, and the question is how to correct it. Some changes take effect as soon as the form is filed. Others wait for an officer. A few cannot be made by amendment at all, and need a new registration.
Section 28 of the CGST Act requires every registered person to “inform the proper officer of any changes in the information furnished at the time of registration or subsequent thereto”. The procedure is in rule 19 of the CGST Rules. The legal background to registration is in Registration, and What Goes Wrong. The portal steps common to every application are in Applying for GST Registration.
Fifteen days from the change
Rule 19(1) requires the registered person to apply “within a period of fifteen days of such change”, electronically in FORM GST REG-14, “along with the documents relating to such change”. The application is signed or verified through EVC. The form’s instructions add that no fee is payable and that the authorised signatory “shall not be a minor”.
The application covers changes to anything furnished in the original application: REG-01, or REG-07 (tax deductors and collectors), REG-09 (non-resident taxable persons), REG-10 (overseas online service providers) or REG-13 (UIN holders). For each field changed, REG-14 asks for the effective date and the reasons. The portal’s FAQ says a reason is mandatory for each amendment.
Core fields wait for the officer; non-core fields do not
The proviso to rule 19(1) divides the particulars into two classes. The REG-14 instructions call them “core fields” and “Non-Core fields”, and the portal uses the same labels for its two menu options: Amendment of Registration Core Fields and Amendment of Registration Non-Core Fields.
The core fields are those in rule 19(1)(a):
- legal name of business;
- address of the principal place of business or any additional place of business;
- “addition, deletion or retirement of partners or directors, Karta, Managing Committee, Board of Trustees, Chief Executive Officer or equivalent, responsible for the day to day affairs of the business”.
For these, the officer must, “after due verification”, approve the amendment within fifteen working days of receiving REG-14 and issue an order in FORM GST REG-15. Under rule 19(1)(b), a change of legal name or of partners, directors and the like in one State applies to all registrations on the same PAN.
The portal treats a change of trade name as core as well. Its manual explains that a change in trade name “triggers issuance of new Registration Certificate”. Change of SEZ details and the validity period of an SEZ unit also go through the core route.
Non-core fields are everything else. Under rule 19(1)©, “the certificate of registration shall stand amended upon submission” of REG-14. The portal manual gives authorised signatory details and edits to existing stakeholders’ details as examples. Bank accounts are added the same way.
Changes that amendment cannot make
Rule 19(1)(d) provides that where “a change in the constitution of any business results in the change of the Permanent Account Number”, the person “shall apply for fresh registration in FORM GST REG-01”. A proprietor turning the business into a company, or a firm into an LLP, is in this position. The old registration is then cancelled, as explained in Cancelling a Registration on Application.
The portal FAQ adds a moving business. Registration is State-specific, so a principal place of business cannot be amended to an address in another State. The FAQ says the business must cancel its registration and register afresh in the new State.
What the officer can do with a core amendment
The sequence under rule 19(2) to (5) is:
- Within fifteen working days of the application, the officer may issue FORM GST REG-03 if the amendment is “not warranted” or the documents are “incomplete or incorrect”. As substituted from 1 November 2025 by Notification No. 18/2025-Central Tax, REG-03 may also direct the applicant to appear in person.
- The applicant replies in FORM GST REG-04 within seven working days of service.
- If the reply is not satisfactory, or none is filed, the officer rejects the application in FORM GST REG-05. Section 28(2) forbids rejection “without giving the person an opportunity of being heard”.
- If the officer takes no action within fifteen working days of the application, or within seven working days of the reply, rule 19(5) provides that the certificate “shall stand amended to the extent applied for”.
The portal notifies the outcome by SMS and email. The REG-15 order and the amended certificate become available on the dashboard.
The effective date
Rule 19(1)(a) says an approved core amendment takes effect “from the date of the occurrence of the event warranting such amendment”. Rule 19(1A) then provides, “notwithstanding” sub-rule (1), that no particular “shall … stand amended with effect from a date earlier than the date of submission” of REG-14, except by an order of the Commissioner recording reasons. A late application therefore risks a gap between the real change and the date on the certificate.
The authorised signatory’s email and mobile
The second proviso to rule 19(1) requires any change in the authorised signatory’s mobile number or email address to be “carried out only after online verification through the common portal” under rule 8(2). The portal manual describes this as a non-core amendment. A common OTP goes to the new email and mobile for the authorised signatory. Where the signatory is also a promoter or partner, separate OTPs go to each.
Where the primary authorised signatory has died or cannot be traced, nobody can receive the OTP. The portal’s FAQ says the business approaches the jurisdictional officer with documents. The officer checks that the new person is already a stakeholder or signatory, enters the new contact details and resets the login.
Aadhaar status can be lost on amendment. The portal FAQ says a newly added primary authorised signatory is not treated as Aadhaar-authenticated. Nor is an existing one whose name, father’s name, date of birth or gender is edited. Authentication is then repeated from the My Profile page.
Geocoding the address
When a principal or additional place of business is amended through the core route, the manual describes a map. The applicant searches by address, PIN code or latitude and longitude, pins the exact location and confirms it. The address fields are then filled from the map. In a non-core application, the latitude and longitude of business addresses are frozen. A business address cannot be changed by that route.
Separately, the portal offers existing taxpayers a one-time facility to geocode the principal place of business. Its FAQ says this is not mandatory. It does not change the registration certificate, and it does not apply to additional places of business. A changed address on the certificate still needs a core amendment.
Rule 25(1) allows the officer to verify a place of business physically “after the grant of registration”. The verification report, “including photographs”, is uploaded in FORM GST REG-30 within fifteen working days. REG-30 records the latitude and longitude of the site and a photograph of the place with the person present. A verification of this kind is the officer’s choice. Rule 19 does not require one for every change of address. The common-steps guide covers verification in more detail.
Documents and declarations
| Change | Document | Who provides it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of business, own premises | Property tax receipt, municipal khata or electricity bill | Registered person | Portal FAQ |
| Place of business, rented or leased | Rent or lease agreement, with the lessor’s ownership document | Registered person and lessor | Portal FAQ |
| Place of business, other premises (including shared) | Consent letter, with the consenter’s ownership document | Consenter | Portal FAQ |
| SEZ premises | Government of India approval for the SEZ unit or developer | Registered person | Portal FAQ |
| New partner, director or karta | The person’s particulars and photograph, and documents proving the change | Registered person | Core-fields manual |
| New authorised signatory | Proof of appointment and a photograph | Registered person | New-registration manual |
| Any amendment | Declaration in REG-14 that the information is “true and correct” | Authorised signatory | Rule 19, REG-14 |
The portal’s manuals are inconsistent on additional places of business. The core-fields manual says no documents are required. The FAQ lists the proof-of-possession documents above. The new-registration manual limits uploads to PDF or JPEG, 1 MB for proof of premises and proof of appointment, and 100 KB for photographs. The amendment manual does not repeat those limits.
The consent letter is a document the portal asks for, not one the rules prescribe. Neither rule 19 nor the portal manual mentions an affidavit for an amendment of address.
The forms
| Form | Purpose |
|---|---|
| REG-14 | Application for amendment |
| REG-03 | Officer’s notice seeking clarification or documents |
| REG-04 | Applicant’s reply |
| REG-15 | Order approving the amendment |
| REG-05 | Order rejecting the amendment |
| REG-30 | Report of any physical verification |
Two things the portal blocks
While a core amendment is pending, the portal will not accept another core amendment. A non-core amendment filed meanwhile does not reflect the pending core changes. Once an application for cancellation is filed, or the officer starts cancellation proceedings, the core-amendment option is disabled. The portal FAQ says non-core amendments, including email and mobile, can still be made.
The procedure in order
- Identify the change and its date. Start the application within fifteen days.
- If the change alters the PAN, apply for a new registration in REG-01 instead. If the principal place of business is moving to another State, cancel and register afresh there.
- Choose the core or non-core option on the portal.
- Enter the new particulars, the date and the reason for each field. Pin any new address on the map.
- Upload the supporting documents.
- Verify the application with DSC, e-signature or EVC and note the ARN.
- For a non-core field, the registration is amended on submission.
- For a core field, reply to any REG-03 in REG-04 within seven working days. Otherwise await REG-15, or deemed approval after fifteen working days.
- Repeat Aadhaar authentication where the portal asks for it.
The next guide covers the opposite end of a registration: cancelling it on the registered person’s own application.