Co-owner’s Consent Letter not Required in applying GST Registration when Electricity Bill proves Ownership: Allahabad HC [Read Order]

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a co-owner's consent letter is not mandatory for obtaining Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration if ownership of the property is established through an electricity bill issued in the GST registration applicant's name.

The court clarified that under the GST Act, an electricity bill in the name of the registered owner suffices as proof of ownership, eliminating the need for a consent letter from other co-owners.

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Justice Pankaj Bhatia concurred with the appellate authorities’ opinion, stating that clause (a) governs the case of property owners, and the rules do not mandate additional consent from co-owners if ownership is already established. 

The petitioner, Satya Dev Singh sought cancellation of the GST registration granted to the respondent no.5 who is the wife of the property co-owner’s. The fact is that the petitioner and the husband of the respondent no.5 are the co-owner of the property in question. It was contended that the registration was issued without obtaining their consent. 

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The petitioner argued that the respondent failed to secure their consent before obtaining the registration. The GST authorities rejected the petitioner’s application, citing compliance with the requirements under Form REG-01, which specifies acceptable documents for proof of principal place of business. These include property tax receipts, municipal records, or an electricity bill for owned premises.

The appellate authority stated that since the electricity bill was in the respondent's name, it fulfilled the ownership proof requirement under clause (a) of Form REG-01. 

“Proof of Principal Place of Business :

a) For Own premises - Any document in support of the ownership of the premises like latest Property Tax Receipt or Municipal Khata copy or copy of Electricity Bill.

(b) For Rented or Leased premises - A copy of the valid Rent / Lease Agreement with any document in support of the ownership of the premises of the Lessor like Latest Property Tax Receipt or Municipal Khata copy or copy of Electricity Bill.

(c) For premises not covered in (a) and (b) above - A copy of the Consent Letter with any document in support of the ownership of the premises of the Consenter like Municipal Khata copy or Electricity Bill copy. For shared properties also, the same documents may be uploaded."

The petitioner’s argument that clause (c), requiring a consent letter for shared properties, applied in this case was rejected by the court. 

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The bench stated that “The said contention of the counsel for the petitioner deserves to be rejected for the sole reason that the issue would be governed by clause (a), which prescribes that a document in support of the ownership of the premises is required in case of the owner, there is no mention of the resident being sole owner.”

The court held that clause (c) pertains to scenarios where ownership is not established via documents like an electricity bill. Since the respondent had provided sufficient proof of ownership, the consent letter was deemed unnecessary.

The court dismissed the writ petition and affirmed the GST authorities’ decision, holding that the petitioner’s objections lacked merit and that there was no violation of the GST registration rules.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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