What is GeM?
The Government e-Marketplace is the online platform through which central and state government departments, public sector undertakings and other government buyers buy goods and services.
For a seller it works like a marketplace with procurement rules attached. You register once, publish your products or services in the right category, and then either receive direct purchase orders or compete in bids that buyers float.
Being on GeM is not a licence or a certificate. It is a channel, and treating it as a compliance item is why many registrations end up dormant. The registration is the easy part; the catalogue and the bid discipline are where orders come from.
Who can register on GeM
Any individual or organisation can register as a seller or a service provider: proprietorships, partnership firms, LLPs, companies, trusts, societies and government entities.
You register once and can offer both products and services from the same account. There is no separate registration to become a service provider.
Seller, service provider, OEM and reseller
Four words on GeM cause most of the confusion, and the difference decides both what you can list and whether you face vendor assessment.
| Term | What it means on GeM |
|---|---|
| Seller | Anyone offering products on the marketplace |
| Service provider | Anyone offering services. The same account can do both |
| OEM | Original equipment manufacturer: you own or control the brand and the manufacturing of the product |
| Reseller | You are authorised by an OEM to sell its product. You can be an OEM for some products and a reseller for others, and you choose the designation for each product |
If you are a trader planning to list a brand you do not own, plan for the authorisation from the OEM before you build the catalogue, because a listing without it is where rejections concentrate.
Documents and details you need
GeM verifies the entity rather than collecting a file of certificates, so most of this is information you enter and confirm.
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Aadhaar number or personal PAN of the authorised signatory | GeM accepts either. Aadhaar is not mandatory for seller registration |
| PAN of the business | Used to verify the entity |
| Constitution type and organisation name and address | Proprietorship, firm, company, trust, society or government body, exactly as in your records |
| Active email address and mobile number | For verification and for every bid notification afterwards. Use an address that more than one person in the business can see |
| Bank account details | For receiving payments |
| Income tax returns for the last three financial years | Of the entity or the authorised signatory, per GeM's requirement |
| Udyam registration number | Where you are an MSME and want MSE benefits. See Udyam registration, which is free |
| DPIIT recognition number | Where you are a recognised startup. See Startup India registration |
| GSTIN | Not mandatory for registering on GeM, but needed for most categories in practice and for invoicing. See GST registration |
If your business is less than two years old
GeM exempts an organisation whose date of incorporation is less than two years old from uploading income tax returns at registration. That matters for a newly incorporated company or LLP that has no three-year history to show, and it is the single most useful concession on the platform for a young business.
If you are still deciding the structure, remember that the entity registering on GeM is the entity that will hold the orders and the payments: see company registration and private limited company.
Is GeM registration free?
Yes. There are no charges or fees for getting registered on GeM. Anyone quoting a "GeM registration fee" payable to the portal is quoting their own charge, not a government one.
Two costs do exist, and neither is a registration fee.
Caution money
GeM requires a caution money deposit from sellers, fixed by turnover band.
| Turnover | Caution money |
|---|---|
| Below ₹1 crore | ₹5,000 |
| Above ₹1 crore and below ₹10 crore | ₹10,000 |
| Above ₹10 crore | ₹25,000 |
GeM exempts artisans, weavers, MSE SC/ST sellers, MSE women sellers and One District One Product sellers from caution money.
Caution money is a deposit against your conduct on the platform, not a fee for the account, so treat it as working capital parked with GeM rather than a cost of registration.
What GeM charges on an order
GeM recovers transaction charges on orders rather than on registration:
| Order value | Transaction charge |
|---|---|
| Up to ₹10 lakh | Nil |
| Above ₹10 lakh and up to ₹10 crore | 0.30% of order value |
| Above ₹10 crore | ₹3 lakh flat |
Price your bids with this in mind. On a ₹40 lakh order the charge is ₹12,000, which is the sort of number that decides whether a thin margin survives.
GeM registration fees
Professional fee: fee on quote after a free review. GeM work splits into two very different jobs: getting the account registered and verified, and building a catalogue that buyers can find and buy from. We look at what you sell and how many products or service categories are involved before quoting.
Government fee: no registration charge. Caution money, where it applies, is a deposit paid to GeM at your turnover band, and transaction charges apply on orders as set out above. Where a category requires vendor assessment, the assessing agency's charges are payable to that agency and are not a GeM registration fee.
Professional fees exclude GST at 18%. Government fees, where they apply, are paid at actuals to the department and are shown separately. Fees verified on 27 September 2026.
How registration and listing actually run
- Decide the entity and the role. Which entity registers, and whether you will list as an OEM, a reseller or a service provider. This is where a wrong turn costs weeks later.
- Create the seller account using the signatory's Aadhaar or personal PAN, and verify the email and mobile.
- Complete the organisation profile: constitution, PAN of the business, address, bank details, income tax returns, and Udyam or DPIIT numbers where you hold them.
- Pay caution money for your turnover band, unless you are in an exempt class.
- Build the catalogue. Products go into GeM's own category and specification structure, which is the real work: a product that does not match a category's parameters cannot be bought against a bid using that category.
- Complete vendor assessment if your category requires it and no exemption applies.
- Start selling: respond to bids, and be visible for direct purchase where buyers can order without a bid.
Vendor assessment
Vendor assessment is GeM's check on the capability of a seller in selected product categories, and it is mandatory for OEMs and authorised resellers in those categories unless an exemption applies.
GeM lists several exemption categories, including public sector undertakings and government organisations, and sellers above a high turnover threshold. Where assessment does apply, it is carried out by a third-party agency and the agency's charges are payable to it.
Two practical points. Assessment attaches to categories, so what you plan to list decides whether you face it. And it is not a one-day formality: if a bid deadline matters to you, find out early whether your category needs it.
What happens when you bid
Direct purchase and bids are the two ways an order reaches you, and most meaningful business comes through bids.
A bid carries the buyer's technical specifications and its own eligibility conditions, and those conditions are where most sellers are eliminated before price is even opened. Expect to be asked for some combination of:
- Your GeM catalogue item matching the bid's category and specifications
- Past experience or past supply orders, where the buyer has set that condition
- Turnover or financial capacity, evidenced by a certificate from a chartered accountant. See net worth certificate and, for tender use, net worth certificate for tenders
- Your Udyam or DPIIT number, where the buyer has reserved the bid or relaxed conditions for MSEs and startups
- Bid security or performance security in the form the buyer specifies
Read the eligibility conditions before the specifications. A bid you cannot satisfy on paper is not worth pricing.
What MSME and startup status gets you on GeM
GeM enables filters for buyers to reserve procurement from micro and small enterprises, so your Udyam number is what makes you visible to a buyer who has restricted a bid in that way. MSE SC/ST sellers, MSE women sellers, artisans, weavers and One District One Product sellers are also exempt from caution money.
Two things are worth getting done before you register, and both are free or cheap:
- Udyam registration, which costs nothing on the government portal and is what proves micro or small status.
- Startup India recognition if you qualify, which buyers sometimes recognise with relaxed eligibility conditions.
We do not claim more than that. What a particular buyer offers an MSE or a startup is set out in that buyer's bid document, and that is the document to read.
Common reasons a GeM registration or listing stalls
- Entity mismatch. The organisation name on GeM does not match the PAN or the incorporation certificate.
- Income tax returns not available and the two-year exemption not claimed, or claimed where it does not apply.
- Signatory confusion. The person whose Aadhaar or personal PAN is used is not the person authorised to bind the entity.
- OEM authorisation missing for a brand being listed as a reseller.
- Catalogue built outside the category structure, so the product cannot be matched to a bid.
- Caution money not paid, leaving the account unable to transact.
- Vendor assessment discovered late, after a bid has been targeted.
- A shared email nobody monitors, so bid notifications are missed.
Why Regikart for GeM registration
Regikart is a CA and CS firm serving 250+ clients from offices in Kolkata (head office), Delhi and Bengaluru, working with clients across India online.
- We tell you when you do not need us. GeM registration is free and many sellers can do it alone. What is worth paying for is the entity decision, the catalogue structure and the certificates a bid will ask for.
- The documents a bid actually needs. Turnover and net worth certificates, accounts and returns come from the same CA team that files them: accounting, income tax returns and net worth certificates.
- The registrations around it. Udyam, GST, Startup India and, where the entity itself needs to change, company registration.
- No invented claims. We do not publish approval rates, order guarantees or timelines for a platform we do not control.