Before you compare cost per lead, ask a duller question: does the company have a GST number, and will they put it on an invoice? It is the cheapest filter in the entire buying process — thirty seconds to check, nothing to run, and it removes most of the operators who will take your money and disappear. Anyone can build a website and a WhatsApp catalogue in a weekend. A GSTIN means someone registered a business with the Government of India, attached a PAN to it, and accepted a filing obligation they have to keep meeting.
This guide covers what a GST number actually tells you about a lead vendor, how to verify one in under a minute, why a GST invoice usually makes the "expensive" vendor the cheaper one, and the checks to run once GST clears. If your worry is the leads themselves rather than the company selling them, read our guide to spotting fake and recycled leads alongside this one.
What a GSTIN Actually Proves
A GSTIN is a 15-character identifier, and it is not random. Every part of it is checkable. Take ours — 23LZWPK6321A1Z9 — and read it left to right:
| Part | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Characters 1–2 | 23 |
State code. 23 is Madhya Pradesh — which should match the address the company publishes. |
| Characters 3–12 | LZWPK6321A |
The PAN of the registered business. The tax identity behind the trading name. |
| Character 13 | 1 |
Registration count for that PAN within the state. |
| Character 14 | Z |
Fixed for regular taxpayers. |
| Character 15 | 9 |
Checksum. A fabricated GSTIN usually fails here. |
So a GSTIN gives you three things a landing page cannot: a legal entity behind the brand, a state that has to match the stated address, and a PAN that ties the business to a tax record. It does not prove the leads are good. Plenty of GST-registered companies sell recycled data. Treat it as a floor, not a recommendation.
How to Verify a GST Number in Under a Minute
Do not take a screenshot of a certificate as proof — those are trivial to edit. Verify at source on the government portal:
- Open the official GST "Search Taxpayer" tool on the Government of India GST portal.
- Paste the GSTIN. You should see the legal name, trade name, registration date, constitution of business, state jurisdiction and current status.
- Check status is Active. Cancelled or suspended registrations still return a result — read the field, do not just confirm the number exists.
- Check the legal name against the entity that will invoice you. Read the note below before you treat a difference as a problem.
- Check the state matches the office address on their site. A Madhya Pradesh GSTIN on a company claiming a Mumbai head office needs an explanation.
Legal name vs trade name — why they often differ legitimately
This is where most first-time verifiers get spooked unnecessarily. The GST portal shows two separate fields: legal name (the entity on the PAN) and trade name (the brand it operates as). For a proprietorship, the legal name is usually the proprietor's own name, because the registration sits on an individual's PAN. So the portal can legitimately show a person's name for a company you know by a brand.
Ours is exactly this case: GSTIN 23LZWPK6321A1Z9, legal name Raj Karma — a proprietorship trading as OptimizedLeads. We publish both on our contact page and about page so nothing about the portal result is a surprise when you check it.
So the real test is not "does the legal name equal the brand." It is:
- Does the vendor disclose the legal name up front, before you ask? A company that publishes it has nothing to reconcile later.
- Does the invoice name the same legal entity the GST portal shows? This is the one that matters. Brand on the letterhead is fine; the legal entity on the invoice must match the registration.
- Does the bank account match that same entity? A proprietorship's current account will be in the proprietor's or firm's name — consistent with the registration.
An unexplained mismatch is still a red flag. A proprietor's name on a registered proprietorship is not. Know the difference, then ask the question directly — a legitimate vendor answers it in one sentence.
The Input Tax Credit Argument Most Buyers Miss
Lead generation is a service, taxed at 18% GST in India. If you are a GST-registered business buying leads for your business, that 18% is generally recoverable as input tax credit. This changes the arithmetic completely, and it is where the "cheaper" unregistered vendor quietly becomes the expensive one:
| Unregistered vendor | GST-registered vendor | |
|---|---|---|
| Quoted price | ₹20,000 | ₹20,000 |
| GST on invoice | None | ₹3,600 (18%) |
| You pay | ₹20,000 | ₹23,600 |
| Input tax credit claimable | ₹0 | ₹3,600 |
| Net cost to you | ₹20,000 | ₹20,000 |
| Bookable business expense | Difficult | Yes |
| Recourse if leads are junk | Effectively none | Invoice, contract, paper trail |
The net cost is identical — and one column comes with a legal document, an auditable expense, and somebody to hold responsible. The unregistered vendor is not cheaper; they are the same price with the protections stripped out. Confirm your own ITC position with your CA, but the direction of the argument holds for most GST-registered buyers. When you compare lead packages and pricing — whether that is verified forex leads or property enquiries — compare landed cost after credit, not the headline number.
Beyond GST: The Seven-Point Vendor Verification Checklist
GST is the entry test. These are the checks that actually predict whether the leads will convert:
- A GST invoice before payment, not after. Ask for a sample invoice up front. Vendors who only "arrange" an invoice after money moves are telling you something.
- A named replacement policy in writing. What counts as an invalid lead, what the window is, and how replacements are issued. Verbal assurances are not a policy.
- A paid trial or sample batch. Judge the data, not the deck. We run a free 2-day trial for this reason.
- Consent and source disclosure. Under India's DPDP framework, you are exposed too. Ask where the lead came from and what the person consented to.
- Exclusivity in writing. "Fresh" is marketing. "Exclusive to you, not resold, with the sale date stated" is a term.
- A traceable business footprint. A registered address, a company phone line, named people. Not only a WhatsApp number and a Gmail address.
- Bank account in the registered entity's name. If the invoice says one entity and payment is requested to an individual's personal account, stop.
For a fuller treatment of the compliance side of buying in India, see our guide on how brokers buy compliant leads in India, and our provider comparison for how these criteria apply across the market.
Red Flags That Should End the Conversation
Some answers are disqualifying regardless of how good the pricing looks:
- "We'll give you a better rate without a bill." That is the whole pitch, and it is the whole problem.
- Refusing to share a GSTIN, or sharing one whose status is cancelled.
- An invoice naming a legal entity that does not match the GST registration — different from a proprietor's name appearing as the legal name, which is normal.
- Advance payment demanded in full, to a personal account, before any sample.
- Guaranteed conversion rates or guaranteed deposits. Nobody can promise the outcome of your sales team's work.
None of this is exotic. It is the same due diligence you would run on any supplier — it simply gets skipped in lead buying because the purchase feels small and urgent. It is not small: a bad batch costs you the spend plus the sales hours burned on dead numbers. That is the real number to protect, which is why we argue for measuring cost per deposit and cost per closed deal rather than cost per lead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a GST number proof that a lead generation company is genuine?
It proves a registered legal entity exists behind the brand, with a PAN and a filing obligation. That is a meaningful floor, and it removes most fly-by-night sellers. It does not prove lead quality — GST-registered companies can still sell recycled data. Use it as a first filter, then run a paid trial and check the replacement policy.
How do I verify a GST number in India?
Use the official "Search Taxpayer" tool on the Government of India GST portal at services.gst.gov.in. Enter the GSTIN and confirm four things: status is Active, the state code matches their published address, the registration date is consistent with how long they claim to have operated, and the legal name matches the entity that will invoice you. Note that the legal name and the trade name are separate fields — for a proprietorship the legal name is normally the proprietor's own name, so a person's name is not a red flag by itself. Never accept a screenshot of a certificate as verification.
Can I claim input tax credit on leads I buy?
If you are a GST-registered business buying leads for business use and you receive a valid GST invoice, the 18% GST is generally claimable as input tax credit. That means a GST-registered vendor's higher invoice often has the same net cost as an unregistered vendor's lower quote, while also giving you a bookable expense and a paper trail. Confirm your specific position with your CA.
What is OptimizedLeads' GST number?
Our GSTIN is 23LZWPK6321A1Z9, registered in Madhya Pradesh, India, with the registered legal name Raj Karma — a proprietorship trading as OptimizedLeads. Both the number and the legal name are published on our contact page and about page so the government portal result matches what you already expect before you spend anything with us. Every invoice we issue is GST-compliant.
What should I do if a lead vendor offers a discount for paying without an invoice?
Decline. You lose the input tax credit, so the discount is usually not a real saving, and you lose every form of recourse if the leads are invalid — no invoice, no contract, no bookable expense, nothing to escalate. An off-books transaction also creates an accounting problem for you, not for them.
Want to run these checks on us before you spend a rupee? Our GSTIN and registered office are published on our contact page — verify them, then start a free 2-day trial and judge the data itself. Explore verified forex leads, real estate buyer leads, or online MBA admission leads with GST-compliant invoicing on every order.