To check whether an Indian company is real, compare five facts from public sources against what the supplier told you: legal name, GST status, IEC status, company or enterprise registration, and physical address. If all five agree, the business exists. If even one conflicts, stop and ask before you pay anything.
Existing is not the same as legitimate, and legitimate is not the same as good. This article gives you a quick test to rule out the obvious problems, then a longer test for when real money is involved.
The ten-minute test
You need the supplier's GSTIN, IEC, address and company name. Ask for them first; a supplier who will not give them has answered your question already. Then run these checks, which are free as of October 2026:
- Search the GSTIN on the government GST portal and confirm the status is active and the legal name matches what you were given.
- Look up the IEC on the DGFT or customs enquiry and confirm it is active and linked to the same PAN. The middle ten characters of a GSTIN are the PAN, so you can compare them directly.
- If it says it is a limited company or LLP, search the company master data on the MCA site and check that it is active, not struck off, and that the incorporation date fits the story about how long it has been trading.
- Search the address on a map and in street-level imagery. A factory claim at an address that is a residential flat, a shared co-working desk or an empty plot needs explaining.
- Search the company name with words like complaint, fraud or cheated, in English and, if possible, in the local language. Absence proves little; presence is worth reading.
A worked example
Imagine a supplier with a polished website, a quotation from a company called Alpha Pvt Ltd, and a bank account in the same name. The GSTIN search shows an active registration, but the legal name is a sole proprietor's own name, and the trade name is something else.
That is not automatically a scam. Many small Indian traders run as proprietorships with a brand name on top. But it does not match the Pvt Ltd on the quotation. The decision rule is simple: ask which legal entity will invoice you and receive payment, and get the answer in writing with a matching registration. If they cannot explain it in a day, walk away.
The longer test, for orders that matter
Once an order is large enough that losing the money would hurt, add these:
- Read the company's filing history and registered charges, and note who the directors are and what other companies they have been directors of.
- Check whether the GST returns are filed regularly. The portal can show filing status, though what it shows depends on what the taxpayer has chosen to disclose.
- Ask for two overseas buyer references in your region and actually call them.
- Request redacted past export documents for the same product.
- Have someone visit the site. A factory audit is the only step that tells you whether what is on paper is also on the ground.
When the answers are mixed
Real suppliers sometimes fail a check for boring reasons. An IEC may be shown inactive because a mandatory annual update was missed, and a GST registration may be under a different state. A genuine supplier will explain and fix these. A fraudulent one will usually push you to move faster instead.
Pressure is the signal to watch, because it usually matters more than any single failed lookup. Ask yourself whether the supplier is helping you check or hurrying you past the checking. See the warning signs of fake exporters and red flags before you pay.
Next step
If the ten-minute test passes but you still cannot visit, we can do the longer test and the site check for you. We audit manufacturers across India, wherever the supplier is, and report to you alone. You pay a written fee agreed in advance and we take nothing from factories. Book a free sourcing review and bring the supplier's details.