Physical verification of a dealer, customer or vendor: what a site visit should prove

By Gaurav Gupta, Founder & CEO, GGA India

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

Direct answer. A site visit should prove what desk checks cannot: the business occupies its GST principal place of business, signage and displayed registration match its legal name, and stock, activity and staff fit the exposure you are deciding on. Record time- and geo-stamped photographs, with consent. Trap: a visit staged by appointment.

GGA India at a glance — counterparty intelligence

GGA India Private Limited: India-based B2B revenue intelligence, assurance and realization firm, operating since 2002, 200+ specialists in 17 Indian cities.
Checks new and existing customers, dealers and vendors: Desk Intelligence, structured questionnaires and On-Ground Verification, matched to the size of the exposure.
Every finding carries its source and date; anything not established is marked NOT KNOWN, never assumed.
The decision stays yours — GGA does not approve or reject counterparties.
Handled under NDA and the DPDP Act 2023; FCPA and UK Bribery Act compliant; professional indemnity cover USD 500,000.
Write to gg@ggaindia.co.in — a named specialist replies within one working day.

What you are really trying to find out

A site visit earns its cost only if it answers four questions the desk could not.

Is the business there? If the address differs from the GST principal place of business, or turns out to be a residence, a shared desk or a shut shop, it is an existence problem.
Is it this business? If the board outside carries another name, or the GST certificate on display belongs to a different GSTIN, it is an identity problem.
Is the scale real? The counterparty's stated turnover, staff and capacity should be visible. If a dealer claims ₹10 crore of annual sales from a shop with little stock and no vehicles, or a vendor claims 120 workers and you count 30, it is a contradiction to resolve before you rely on any figure it gave you.
Will it still be there next year? If the premises are rented month to month, the move-in was recent, or neighbours describe frequent shifting, it is a continuity question.

The focus depends on the decision. New dealer: shop, godown, brands on display. New credit customer: operations that match the orders planned. New vendor, especially before an advance: machines running, materials, finished goods and people to deliver your order.

The checks, side by side

A good visit compares what is seen with what the counterparty has filed and told you; without that comparison it is a tour.

Exhibit 1: What a site visit should check, against what, and the red flags

#	Check	Compare against (source)	What a red flag looks like	Free or paid
1	Address and access	GST principal place and any additional places of business (GST Search Taxpayer); Udyam address; invoice address	Premises at a different address; a godown used but not declared in GST	Own staff: travel cost; verifier: paid
2	Signage and displayed registration	Legal and trade name on GST; CGST Rule 18 requires the registration certificate displayed and the GSTIN on the name board at the entrance	No board, a different name, or a certificate for another GSTIN	As above
3	Premises type and tenure	Rent agreement or ownership papers the counterparty supplied	Residence used as shop; very recent lease; landlord is a related person never mentioned	As above
4	Stock and inventory	Stated turnover, brands carried, your expected monthly sales	Little stock; dusty or obsolete stock; heavy stock of a competing brand the dealer said it dropped	As above
5	Activity	Stated customers, dispatch volumes, working hours	No walk-ins, no dispatches, machines idle during a working day; no vehicles	As above
6	Manpower	Stated headcount; payroll footprint such as an EPFO establishment record	Headcount far below the stated figure; staff who do not know the owner's name	As above
7	Warehouse or plant capacity	Stated capacity, your order size, delivery schedule	Space or equipment cannot hold or produce your order	As above
8	Neighbourhood and market	Stated years in business	Neighbours say the firm arrived recently or has moved often	As above
9	Records shown voluntarily	Invoices, stock register, purchase bills the counterparty chooses to show	Records that do not match GST returns or the stock seen	As above
10	Photographs	Time and location stamp; wide, entrance, signboard, interior, stock, street	Photos without stamps, interiors only, or no street view tying the shop to the address	As above

A GST registration does not prove premises. Under CGST Rule 25, the tax officer may arrange a physical verification and then uploads a report with photographs in Form GST REG-30 within 15 working days. Many registrations are granted without one. Your visit is not a statutory inspection and carries none of the officer's powers.

Exhibit 2: Three ways to verify premises

	Your own sales or regional staff	A field-verification agency	GGA On-Ground Verification within decision intelligence
What you get	A quick visit by someone who knows the trade	A checklist report with photographs	Field facts recorded against a checklist, then tested against desk and questionnaire evidence
What it leaves to you	Independence: the person visiting often wants the account opened	Interpreting the findings against your decision	The decision itself
Contradictions	Rarely written down	Recorded, seldom resolved	Identified, assessed for materiality and resolved or shown
When it is enough	Low exposure, repeat visits by the same team	Address confirmation at volume	Material credit, exclusivity, advance payment or a key supplier

What you can check yourself today

Prepare the visit from the desk; a visit without a brief confirms what the counterparty wants you to see.

Pull the addresses. From GST Search Taxpayer, note the principal place of business. Note the Udyam address and the address on invoices. All three should agree.
Look at street and satellite imagery. It shows whether the address is a shop, godown, house or empty plot.
Write the questions the visit must answer. Stated turnover, staff, brands, capacity and years at the address, each with the figure the counterparty gave you.
Agree the visit in writing. Put a clause in your dealer or vendor application form allowing verification visits and photographs of the premises. Tell the counterparty a visit will happen; the exact time can stay open.
Visit twice if the exposure is material. One announced visit to meet the owner and see records. One unannounced look from the street, in business hours, at signage, footfall and whether the shutter is up.
Record as you go. Time- and location-stamped photographs of the entrance and signboard, the street, the interior and the stock. A short note of what was seen, not what was said.

A commercial site visit works only with the counterparty's agreement. Stay inside these limits and the evidence stays usable.

Enter only the areas you are invited into. Areas open to the public, such as a showroom floor, are fine during business hours; a godown, back office or plant needs permission.
Never use a false identity or pretext. Say who you are and why you are there.
Do not open records, computers or cupboards. Look at what the counterparty chooses to show.
Photograph premises, signage and stock. Avoid identifiable images of staff, customers and personal documents unless they agree. Photographs of people, names and phone numbers are personal data.
Ask neighbours only about the business: how long it has traded there and whether it is active. No questions about owners' private lives.
Accept nothing from the counterparty, not even a gift, under your anti-bribery policy.
Handle the field record as personal data. Collect only what the decision needs and keep it only as long as needed. Under the DPDP Rules 2025, notified on 13 November 2025, most duties of data fiduciaries apply from 13 May 2027. Applying them now costs little.

Where self-checks stop

A visit shows one day. An independent verifier and a comparison with every other source turn that day into evidence.

The staged visit. Stock borrowed for the morning, staff brought in, a board put up the night before. A second, unannounced look from the street often exposes it.
The friendly visitor. A salesperson keen to open the account is not an independent witness.
No baseline. Without the stated figures written down first, nobody notices that 30 workers is not 120.

Bring someone in when the exposure is material, when an advance or exclusivity is on the table, when premises are far from your teams, or when you need a record an auditor or your board can rely on. If a customer's site visit raises payment warning signs, our page on customers likely to pay late covers what to watch.

What you get: a decision, not a report

A field report lists what was seen. Your decision needs to know whether it supports the terms you plan to offer.

30 seconds — the answer. The GGA View with two to four facts. Illustrative only: "The vendor operates at its declared GST address with three of five stated machines running. Observed staff were about 40, against 120 stated. The proposed 30% advance on a four-month order is not supported by visible capacity; a staged advance against dispatch would match the evidence."
5 minutes — the case. Address and identity match, premises tenure, stock and capacity against the order, manpower against the stated figure, and each contradiction with the counterparty's explanation.
Reference — the proof. Stamped photographs, the field checklist, documents shown, and the evidence register linking each field fact to the desk evidence.

The six executive-summary examples show how field evidence sits inside the decision, and the methodology explains field-observed evidence and contradiction control.

What GGA would do

GGA plans the visit from the decision and the desk evidence, so the verifier looks for answers, not impressions. Read the steps as a sequence; no turnaround is promised.

Day 1: Set the decision and the visit questions. Proposed limit, advance, order size, territory or exclusivity, and the counterparty's stated figures. You receive: a visit brief and a list of what is missing.
Days 2–5: Desk preparation. Addresses from GST, Udyam and invoices; identity and status checks; any link to the GST record or firm structure that the visit must test. You receive: a checklist specific to this counterparty.
Week 2: On-Ground Verification, as agreed with you. A verifier records premises, signage, stock, activity, manpower and capacity against the checklist, with time- and location-stamped photographs. You receive: field findings and the photo record.
Week 2 onwards: Contradiction control. Each gap between what was said and what was seen goes back to the counterparty through the structured questionnaire. You receive: the gaps, the explanations and GGA's assessment of each.
Then: Combined assessment. You receive: the executive summary: the GGA View, the field facts that matter and the limits of one visit. For an existing dealer or vendor, GGA reads the visit against your 12, 24 or 36 months of trading data.

GGA's Dealer Intelligence and Vendor Intelligence services include On-Ground Verification where the exposure calls for it. Before an advance, read paying an advance to a new supplier. The desk checks that should come before a visit are listed under due diligence.

What we need from you

To start

Counterparty name, GSTIN and the address you were given.
The decision and proposed terms: limit, credit period, advance, order size, territory, exclusivity.
The figures the counterparty stated: turnover, staff, capacity, brands, years at the address.

To act

Written permission for the visit, ideally a verification clause in your application form.
A contact person at the premises.
Documents already received: rent or ownership papers, licences, photographs it sent.
Consent for bureau data, if credit history is in scope.
For an existing relationship: 12–36 months of sales, collections or delivery data.

Missing some of these? Send what you have — telling you what is missing is part of the first reply.

How you stay in control

The decision is yours. GGA does not approve or reject a dealer, customer or vendor.
GGA visits premises or contacts the counterparty only as agreed with you, and the verifier records facts; the verifier does not make the commercial decision.
Bureau data is obtained only with the counterparty's consent.
Every finding carries its source and date, including the time and location of each photograph. Anything not established is recorded as NOT KNOWN, never guessed.
Your data and any personal data in the field record are handled under NDA and the DPDP Act 2023.
A material red flag found on site, such as premises that do not exist or another firm operating there, is reported to you immediately.

Send us the name, GSTIN and address of the dealer, customer or vendor you need verified, and the decision you need to make. Within one working day a named GGA specialist replies with what we would check first and what is missing from the file — no charge, no obligation. gg@ggaindia.co.in

Checking an overseas buyer? See the Global Receivables Desk. An overseas company checking an Indian counterparty? See India counterparty due diligence.

Frequently asked questions

What should a site visit checklist for a new dealer include?

Address against the GST principal place of business, signboard and displayed GST certificate, shop and godown size, stock and brands, activity and footfall, staff count, tenure of the premises, and stamped photographs. Write down the dealer's stated figures first, so the visit can test them.

Is it legal to visit and photograph a business before giving credit?

Yes, with the counterparty's agreement. Enter only where invited, photograph premises and stock rather than people, never use a pretext, and treat any personal data in the record carefully. A verification clause in your application form settles consent in advance.

Does GST registration mean the premises were physically verified?

Not necessarily. CGST Rule 25 allows an officer to arrange a verification, with a report and photographs uploaded in Form GST REG-30, but many registrations are granted without one. Treat a GSTIN as a declared address, not a verified one.

How much does physical verification cost, and how long does it take?

Your own visit costs staff time and travel. A verifier's fee depends on the city, the number of sites and the depth of the checklist. GGA proposes a scope matched to your exposure in its first reply, without a fixed promise of turnaround.

Sources

This page summarises the position as at 9 November 2026. Portal features, rules and thresholds change; check the current position before relying on any single source.