Enhancements to Address-Related Fields in GST Registration Functionalities

GSTIN has introduced new advisory enhancements to address-related fields in the registration functionalities, including New Registration, Amendment Application (Core & Non-Core), and Geocoding Business Addresses. These enhancements are based on the analysis of tickets and user feedback. The details are as follows:

Update in Validations applicable while entering the address in address-related fields:

a. Address is in India:

•For other fields, taxpayers, in addition to alphanumeric values, can add limited special characters such as Hyphen (-), Forward Slash (/), Ampersand (&), Comma (,), Apostrophes ('), Hash (#), Period (.), Small Brackets (), Inverted Commas (""), Colon (:), Semi Colon (;), Underscore (_) and Space. Other special characters are not allowed.

•Special characters are not allowed at the beginning of the entry.

Example: When entering an address, you can input "123 Main St. #4, Apt (5A)" but not "#123 Main St." as special characters like the hash (#) are not permitted at the beginning.

b. Address is outside India:

•The fields PIN Code, State, District, and City/Town/Village are interlinked and must be selected from the autosuggestions.

•Zip Code, State, District: Taxpayers would be able to enter all values other than special characters ` { }.

•For other fields, taxpayers can enter alphanumeric values and limited special characters such as Hyphen (-), Forward Slash (/), Ampersand (&), Comma (,), Apostrophes ('), Hash (#), Period (.), Small Brackets (), Inverted Commas (""), Colon (:), Semi Colon (;), Underscore (_) and Space. Other special characters are not allowed.

•Special characters are not allowed at the beginning of the entry for fields other than Zip Code, District, and State.

Other key points to note:

•Proper instructions have been added to address fields regarding input values that are allowed or not allowed for the specific field. When hovering over the icon, taxpayers would be able to view these instructions.

•The above changes would not impact data already saved in the system, even if it contains special characters that are no longer allowed. However, if a taxpayer is filing an amendment application and is editing the tab containing address details, the system would validate the address based on the above logic.

•The changes have been made based on tickets raised by users who were unaware of the allowed and not allowed characters in address fields or which fields are editable and which fields are to be selected from a drop-down menu only. For example, taxpayers inserting a hash (#) at the beginning of the Building Number field were informed by the help desk or support team to remove the hash (#) character and submit the application again.

•The changes are applicable to Normal Taxpayers – Regular, SEZ Unit, SEZ Developer, Composition, Input Service Distributer, and Casual Taxpayers.

The field of locality/sub-locality is not mandatory:

If the Locality/Sub-locality field is left blank or is mapped to another Pin Code, the system displays the following warning messages: "Locality/Sub-locality does not match the Pin Code. Do you want to save the details?" or "You have not filled in Locality/Sub-locality. Do you want to save the details and proceed further?"

Example: If you enter Pin Code 123456 but leave the Locality/Sub-locality field blank, you will see the message: "You have not filled in Locality/Sub-locality. Do you want to save the details and proceed further?"

In such cases, to continue with the registration, click "YES" to proceed, and the system will allow you to move forward.

Disclaimer: This material and the information contained herein is intended for clients and other Chartered Accountants to provide updates and is not an exhaustive treatment of such subject. We are not, by means of this material, rendering any professional advice or services. It should not be relied upon as the sole basis for any decision which may affect you or your business.