The Delhi High Court has ordered GST authorities across the country to ensure that no fresh GST registration is granted unless the applicant undergoes biometric-based Aadhaar authentication.

The division bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain passed the order amid continuing problem of fraudulent GST registrations obtained by misusing PAN and Aadhaar particulars belonging to unsuspecting individuals.

The Court referred to figures furnished by the Union Minister of State for Finance in the Rajya Sabha. As per the data, 2,800 fraudulent GST registrations using stolen or frozen PAN/Aadhaar details were detected during 2023-24, with tax evasion of ₹15,085 crore. During 2024-25, authorities detected 1,654 such registrations, involving ₹13,109 crore in tax evasion.

The Court noted that the Government had stated that biometric Aadhaar authentication was mandatory for GST registration. However, it observed that more than a year later, the measure had apparently not been implemented in its entirety.

"It appears that despite passage of more than one year, the statement given by the minister on the floor of the house has not been fully implemented," the Court remarked.

The Court also recorded that counsel appearing for the authorities had not been able to identify any practical difficulty in making biometric Aadhaar authentication compulsory for GST registration.

As such, the Court directed authorities "across the country not to allow any GST Registration without biometric based AADHAR authentication henceforth."

While issuing the direction, the bench permitted the authorities to bring to its notice any practical difficulties that may arise in implementing the requirement.

The Court has additionally asked the authorities to consider a set of measures suggested by Senior Advocate Tarun Gulati to prevent misuse of PAN and Aadhaar details for securing fraudulent GST registrations.

The matter will be next heard on September 22, 2026.

For Petitioner: Mr. Manoj Kumar, Mr. Ankit Singh, Mr. Vaibhav Bhardwaj and Ms. Satya Shruti Advs.

For Respondents: Ms. Radhika Arora, CGSC along with Ms. Disha Choudhary, GP for R-1&5. Mr. Ankit Raj, Standing Counsel for PNB and Mr. Digvijay Singh, Advs. for R-6. Mr. Shubham Tyagi, SSC, CBIC with, Ms. Navruti Ojha and Mr. Raman Goyal, Advs.

Case title: Neha v. UoI

Case no.: W.P.(C) 12210/2026