GST registration for cloud kitchens and delivery-only brands

How delivery app orders are taxed

Section 9(5) makes the e-commerce operator liable to pay GST on restaurant services supplied through it. When a customer orders your biryani brand on a food delivery app, the app collects and pays the tax. Orders you take directly, such as through your own website, WhatsApp, bulk office lunches or event orders, are your own supplies on which you pay tax if registered.

The app separately bills you for commission, packaging support, advertising and payment gateway charges. If you are registered under the regular scheme, these invoices are inward supplies to watch in GSTR-2B and the Invoice Management System.

Several brands, one kitchen

Many cloud kitchens run three or four virtual brands from the same premises. Brands are trade names, not separate taxpayers. If all brands belong to one proprietor or one company, they sit under one PAN and one GSTIN in that state, and their sales are added together for the threshold. You can mention the trade names in the application.

If you open a second kitchen in another city in the same state, add it as an additional place of business. A kitchen in another state needs a separate registration there.

• One PAN, one state: one GSTIN covering all brands and kitchens.
• New state: a separate GSTIN for that state.
• A franchisee running your brand on its own PAN registers on its own.

Registered address and verification

Cloud kitchens often operate from a rented shed, a basement or a shared commercial kitchen. The address on the application must be where the kitchen actually works, backed by a rent agreement and a recent utility bill, or a consent letter from the owner or the shared-kitchen operator. If the officer orders physical verification and finds a locked or unmarked unit, the application can be rejected, so put up a name board with the legal or trade name.

Records to keep from day one

Download app settlement reports every month and tie them to bank credits. Keep direct-order sales, app sales and catering orders in separate ledgers. If you register, file GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B even for months with only app sales, and report your outward position correctly so that the auto-populated GSTR-3B liability is right, since it is locked once taken from GSTR-1.

Add bank details within 30 days of registration or before the first GSTR-1, whichever is earlier, as Rule 10A requires.

• Mixing direct and app orders in one sales figure.
• Treating each brand as a separate business for the threshold.
• Ignoring GST on the app's commission invoices.

Getting help

A professional can review your order mix, confirm whether registration is due, prepare the application with the right address proof and set up a monthly reconciliation of app reports.

Get it handled for you

Need GST registration done right the first time? Our chartered accountants prepare the documents, file the application and handle any query, so you do not have to visit the GST office. Call or WhatsApp +91 63677 44602, or use the form below.

This guide explains the law in general terms as of October 2026. Time limits and requirements can depend on the facts of your case and on the notice you received.