A virtual office for GST registration in Mumbai gives you a Maharashtra GSTIN, which starts with state code 27 and covers every place of business you hold in the state, including Bhiwandi and Pune. You need one when your goods are supplied from Maharashtra. For most out-of-state sellers, that happens the day a marketplace stores their stock in a Maharashtra fulfilment centre.
Maharashtra adds a rule most states do not have. Section 55 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 requires every leave and licence agreement to be in writing and registered, and a registered agreement is also the cleaner GST document. This guide covers that rule, the application, the costs and the questions to put to any Mumbai VPOB provider before you pay.
Maharashtra VPOB at a glance
Point | Position on 27 October 2026 |
|---|---|
GST state code | 27; every Maharashtra GSTIN begins with these two digits |
Area one GSTIN covers | The whole state: Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Bhiwandi, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and elsewhere |
When you need it | When goods are supplied from Maharashtra, for example from stock in a fulfilment centre there (Section 25(1), CGST Act) |
Agreement behind a VPOB | A leave and licence agreement, which must be registered under Section 55, Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 |
Owner's ID proof for GST | Not needed if the agreement is registered (CBIC Instruction No. 03/2025-GST, 17 April 2025) |
Biometric Aadhaar authentication | In place for Maharashtra applicants since 8 February 2025 (GSTN advisory of that date) |
Official processing time | 7 working days if not flagged; up to 30 days if physical verification is ordered |
E-way bill limits | ₹1 lakh for movement within Maharashtra; ₹50,000 for goods coming in from another state |
Quarterly GSTR-3B (QRMP) | Due by the 22nd of the month after the quarter |
Government fee for GST registration | None |
When you need a Maharashtra GSTIN
Registration follows the place your goods are supplied from, not the city your buyers live in. If your stock stays in Delhi or Jaipur and ships to Mumbai buyers from there, your home GSTIN covers those sales as interstate supplies.
Everything changes once a marketplace holds your stock in Maharashtra and dispatches orders from it. You are now supplying from Maharashtra, and Section 25(1) of the CGST Act requires a registration in that state.
Your situation | Maharashtra GSTIN? | Why |
|---|---|---|
Stock will sit in a fulfilment centre in Bhiwandi, Pune or elsewhere in Maharashtra | Yes | Orders are dispatched from Maharashtra |
You ship to Mumbai buyers from stock in your home state | No | Interstate supply on your existing GSTIN |
You have leased a shop, office or godown in Maharashtra | Yes, without a VPOB | Register the real premises as your principal place of business |
You sell services to Mumbai clients from another state | Usually no | Place of supply rules do not require registration in each client's state |
Much of the warehousing that serves Mumbai sits in Bhiwandi, in Thane district, which is Maharashtra. Even so, read the state printed in the fulfilment centre's full address on your seller panel before you apply anywhere. If you have taken real premises in the city, register those through standard GST registration in Mumbai instead; you need no virtual address.
Mumbai, Pune or another city for the address
For GST, the city inside Maharashtra makes no difference. A Pune address and a Mumbai address produce the same Maharashtra GSTIN, the same tax and the same returns.
Two practical things do change. The application goes to the jurisdiction the address falls in, and if physical verification is ordered, the officer visits from that jurisdiction. Choose the city where the provider can show you the exact unit and keeps someone on site, then compare price.
Our view: do not pay extra for a South Mumbai postcode for GST purposes. The portal does not rank addresses, and a verifiable unit in Pune beats an unverifiable one in Bandra Kurla Complex.
The leave and licence rule that sets Maharashtra apart
A Maharashtra virtual office is normally given on leave and licence, and Section 55 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999 says any such agreement must be in writing and registered under the Registration Act, 1908. The duty to register falls on the landlord. A landlord who does not register faces imprisonment of up to three months, a fine of up to ₹5,000, or both.
The GST rules make registration worth having for a second reason. CBIC Instruction No. 03/2025-GST, dated 17 April 2025, lists what an officer may ask for when premises are rented:
Agreement type | Documents sufficient for GST registration |
|---|---|
Registered leave and licence agreement | The agreement plus any one ownership document of the licensor, such as a property tax receipt or electricity bill |
Unregistered (notarised) agreement | The agreement, any one ownership document of the licensor and a copy of the licensor's identity proof |
So a Mumbai provider that offers only a notarised agreement is not complying with Section 55, and it leaves you one more document to collect. Ask for the registered copy before you file.
What registration costs in Maharashtra
Stamp duty on a leave and licence agreement is 0.25% of the total rent for the period, plus any non-refundable deposit, plus 10% a year of any refundable deposit (Article 36A, Maharashtra Stamp Act). The registration fee is ₹1,000 in a municipal corporation area such as Mumbai or Pune, and ₹500 elsewhere.
For a VPOB fee with no deposit, the stamp duty comes to a small sum; the ₹1,000 registration fee is usually the larger charge. Agreements can be registered online through the Department of Registration and Stamps e-registration service. Ask your provider whether its quote already includes both.
What to check on the agreement itself
The registration details: document number and sub-registrar office, printed on the registered copy.
Your legal name exactly as it appears on your PAN.
A specific unit, cabin or desk number, not just the building address.
Permitted use that covers use as a place of business and registration under GST.
An address string that matches the utility bill character for character, including floor and PIN.
A term that runs at least as long as you plan to sell from Maharashtra, with the renewal price stated.
Documents for a Maharashtra VPOB application
From | Documents |
|---|---|
The provider | Registered leave and licence agreement in your legal name; one ownership document for the premises; the owner's NOC permitting use for GST registration |
You | PAN of the business; constitution proof; photograph, Aadhaar and PAN of the authorised signatory and promoters or partners; authorisation letter or board resolution |
The full list by possession type is in our guide to documents for a virtual office GST application. The one Maharashtra-specific item is the registered agreement; everything else follows the national REG-01 list.
How a Maharashtra VPOB registration runs
Confirm from your seller panel that the fulfilment centre's address is in Maharashtra.
Get the registered leave and licence agreement, NOC and premises proof before filing; the application should carry the final copies.
File REG-01 with the VPOB as your principal place of business, copying the address exactly from the agreement.
Choose the nature of possession that matches the agreement, and do not tick warehouse for the VPOB address.
Complete Aadhaar authentication, or book the GST Suvidha Kendra appointment if the email asks for biometric verification.
Reply to any REG-03 notice in REG-04 within seven working days.
On approval, display the certificate and your GSTIN on the name board at the VPOB (Rule 18).
Add the Bhiwandi or Pune fulfilment centre as an additional place of business before stock moves there.
Since 8 February 2025, Maharashtra applicants flagged by the portal's risk analysis go to a GST Suvidha Kendra for biometric authentication, a photograph and checking of original documents. The appointment email names the Kendra, and the ARN is generated only after that visit is complete. What to carry is covered in biometric authentication and physical verification.
Under Instruction No. 03/2025-GST, an application not flagged as risky should be approved within 7 working days, and one sent for physical verification within 30 days. Including the agreement and any clarification, a VPOB-backed registration takes 15 to 25 working days end to end. Adding the fulfilment centre afterwards is a separate amendment, explained in adding an additional place of business.
Maharashtra rules that catch out-of-state sellers
Once the Maharashtra GSTIN is live, a few state-level dates and limits differ from what sellers from north India are used to.
Rule | What to do |
|---|---|
E-way bill within Maharashtra | Needed above ₹1 lakh for intra-state movement (Maharashtra Notification 15E, dated 29 June 2018), for example returns moving from Bhiwandi to Pune |
E-way bill for stock coming in | Stock sent from your home state is interstate, so the ₹50,000 limit applies, not Maharashtra's ₹1 lakh |
Quarterly GSTR-3B date | The 22nd of the month after the quarter (Notification No. 82/2020-Central Tax). A Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan home GSTIN files by the 24th, so you now track two dates |
Profession tax | Maharashtra levies it under its 1975 Act. Schedule I charges companies ₹2,500 a year (Entry 18) and each partner of a firm ₹2,500 a year (Entry 19); check whether your Maharashtra presence needs an enrolment certificate |
Quiet months | File nil GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for the Maharashtra GSTIN whenever nothing ships from the state |
Stock you send to Maharashtra is a supply between distinct persons under Section 25(4): a tax invoice from your home GSTIN, IGST and an e-way bill. The paperwork is set out in moving stock between your own registrations.
Rule 14B and Maharashtra sellers
Rule 14B could let some sellers skip the VPOB entirely. The 57th GST Council recommended it on 8 October 2026: a small supplier of goods through e-commerce operators could declare the operator's Maharashtra warehouse as its principal place of business, if it passes on ITC of no more than ₹2.5 lakh a month, excluding stock transfers.
As of 27 October 2026, Rule 14B has not been notified. Reports say the facility may open on 1 November 2026, with operator consent required and only marketplace supplies covered. A seller who also sells through its own website, supplies Mumbai retailers above the limit, or needs the GSTIN this month will still register through a VPOB. The decision for each seller type is in Rule 14B or a virtual office.
How to compare VPOB providers in Mumbai
Search for a Mumbai virtual office and most results are coworking operators selling an address. The address is the easy part. Test the GST work around it with these questions.
Ask the provider | A good answer | A warning sign |
|---|---|---|
Is the leave and licence agreement registered? | Yes, with the registered copy shared before filing | Only a notarised copy, or no clear answer |
Whose name and which unit does it show? | Your legal name and a numbered unit or cabin | The building address only |
Does the NOC mention GST registration? | Yes, with your entity named | A generic permission to use the premises |
Who meets an officer who visits? | A named person with a phone number | "Verification never happens" |
How do notices reach you? | Forwarded the same day, by email | Collected when you ask |
Which GSTIN do you invoice? | Your Maharashtra GSTIN | Your home-state GSTIN, which cannot use Maharashtra's CGST and SGST |
What does renewal cost? | A fixed renewal price in the agreement | "Current rates apply" |
The invoicing question matters more than it looks. A virtual office grants a right to use immovable property, so its place of supply is the property's location under Section 12(3)(a) of the IGST Act. The provider charges Maharashtra CGST and SGST, and only your Maharashtra registration can claim that credit.
What ComplyLocal provides in Maharashtra
ComplyLocal Consultants is a GST and compliance firm based in Rohtak, Haryana, that arranges VPOB (virtual place of business) addresses in Maharashtra and 11 other states for sellers who need a GSTIN where they hold no premises. A Maharashtra VPOB from ComplyLocal includes the agreement in your legal name, the owner's NOC, a utility bill for the premises, name board support, coordination if an officer visits, the REG-01 filing and replies to any REG-03 notice.
Pricing starts at ₹11,999 for a first state, and each additional state costs ₹10,999 to ₹14,999. GST registration itself carries no government fee. Most VPOB-backed registrations complete in 15 to 25 working days.
Our view: in Maharashtra, insist on the registered agreement even though GST would accept a notarised one with extra paperwork. It is the version the state's rent law requires, and it is the copy you will want on file if an officer ever asks how you hold the address.
Need a Maharashtra GSTIN for a Bhiwandi or Pune fulfilment centre? Talk to Keshav's team about VPOB for GST registration at ComplyLocal →
Expanding into Delhi NCR as well? The state lines there work differently; see our guide to a virtual office in Gurgaon.
