GeM Portal Selling Guide: Know How to Start Your Business Online

The GeM portal is mandatory for all government bodies, including central/state/local ministries and subordinate departments, autonomous bodies and PSUs. This means that all government bodies must use this portal to procure goods and services. Any business registered in India, including resellers, service providers, distributors, startups and manufacturers, can sign up to sell on GeM.

The Government e-Marketplace portal aims to provide direct access to government buyers to Indian businesses without the involvement of any third party. The portal enhances transparency, efficiency and inclusiveness in government procurement while reducing corruption and ensuring the effective use of taxpayers’ funds. It provides a seamless, user-friendly interface and a wide variety of tools to improve sellers’ experience on the portal.

Here are the GeM portal’s top features and facilities that improve sellers’ experience:

• Category-based Catalogue Management: To ensure the easy finding of products and services, the portal uses a category-based catalogue system. Offerings are subdivided into six quadrants and displayed via multiple search and filter options.

• Vendor Assessment System: Reliable vendors can quickly gain visibility through a strong and fair rating system. Vendors are rated based on their timely deliveries, order quality, reliability and coverage of goods/services sold.

• Buyer Flagging System: Like sellers, buyers also get ratings based on multiple factors, such as timely payments, order acceptance rates and bid closure. Sellers with more than 30 overdue payments get a Red rating, allowing sellers to reject without penalties.

• Pricing Flexibility: Sellers employing effective pricing can outdo their peers, as buyers have access to price reasonability tools. Furthermore, the dynamic pricing feature lets sellers adjust their prices with changing market conditions.

• Brand Protection: The GeM platform offers multiple brand registration and protection facilities, including brand approval, trademark registration, and IPR services. This is especially helpful for startups and small businesses looking to sell on the GeM portal.

Here are the key benefits of selling products and services via the GeM portal:

• Reduces Barrier to Entry: The GeM portal makes it easier for micro and small businesses to enter the market via cost reduction and a simplified portal. Businesses don’t have to spend money and effort on creating storefronts, marketing or paying third parties.

• Ensures Timely Payments: Buyers are mandated to complete payments within 10 days of receiving their products/services. Otherwise, they are liable to several penalties, including rating downgrades and fines. This improves the cashflow and inventory management for businesses.

• Provides a User-friendly Platform: Businesses don’t need experienced or expert employees to register, list and sell products. By offering a simplified digital platform and detailed guides on how to sell on the GeM portal, the government makes it easy for any business to get started.

• Grants Wide Market Access: With a simple registration, businesses gain access to a massive market of government buyers across India. In the financial year 2025, the GeM portal had an order volume of over ₹72 lakh worth ₹5.43 lakh crore across thousands of products/services, providing many opportunities.

• Simplifies Account Management: Sellers can easily manage their accounts on the GeM portal through a single-window interface. They can use the portal to track active bids, manage multiple orders, respond to queries, check pending payments and maintain compliance requirements.

Sellers looking for information on how to start a business on the GeM portal need to learn about the prerequisites and required documents. These are shown below:

GeM Seller Account Requirements

• Only certain persons (called authorised persons), such as proprietors, directors or promoters of a proprietorship, firm or company, can register a new account.

• After creating a primary seller account, the authorised person can create secondary user accounts. Secondary users can take on bid participation, order fulfilment, catalogue creator or purchase requisition roles.

• To create any account on the GeM portal, having an Aadhaar number, an Aadhaar-linked mobile number and an email ID is compulsory.

• An active email ID (personal or corporate) is mandatory for both primary and secondary users for verification.

• In company details, you need to provide the following details- date of incorporation, CIN (if private/public company), GSTIN (for orders above ₹2.5 lakh), etc. In addition, you need to provide proof of registered office address and bank account details.

• A user signing up as a startup must provide their DIPP and linked mobile number. A registered MSE (micro and small enterprise) needs to enter their UAM (Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum) number and linked mobile number.

GeM Seller Account Documents

• Aadhaar card and PAN card of the authorised person

• PAN card issued to the business

• Business registration certificate based on the type of business (shop establishment certificate, partnership deed, certificate of incorporation or memorandum of association)

• ITR (Income Tax Return) form and acknowledgement for the previous three years

• GST registration certificate

• Bank account details (passbook statement or cancelled cheque)

• Office address proof (electricity or telephone bill, lease agreement)

• Authorised letter of the signatory (optional)

Follow the given instructions to register as a seller for the first time on the GeM portal:

Step 1: Go to the official website of the Government e-Marketplace and click on ‘Signup’ > ‘Seller/Service Provider’.

Step 2: Select your business type from the dropdown and check all of the prerequisites after reviewing them. Then, go through the terms and conditions and sign the declaration.

Step 3: Enter the name and type of your registered business and click on ‘Next’. Afterwards, choose your personal PAN or Aadhaar and verify your identity via PAN/Aadhaar and mobile OTP (one-time password).

Step 4: Verify again by entering your email ID. Then, create a unique user ID and password and click on ‘Create Account’.

Step 5: Once you are logged in, click on ‘My Account’ and complete the next steps to update your profile details. Enter your PAN details and verify via mobile OTP to get started.

Step 6: Enter company details, like organisation name, date of incorporation, etc., and answer the required questions. If registered as a startup or MSE, enter the necessary details in the ‘Startup’ or ‘MSE’ tab.

Step 7: Enter all the required details of your registered office address and company bank account in the next two steps.

Step 8: Read the instructions on ITR filing carefully and fill in the details from your previously filed returns.

Step 9: Upon 100% completion of your profile updation, the tabs- My Action, Personal Settings and My Team will be activated. Review and update these tabs as required.

Step 10: Validate all changes via mobile OTPs and add secondary users to manage your account on your behalf (optional).

Once you have a new account registered, follow the given steps to list your offerings and start selling products/services:

Step 1: Visit the GeM portal and sign in using your user ID, password and captcha code. Then, click on ‘Catalogue’ and pick ‘Products’ > ‘Add New Offering’ from the dropdown menu.

Step 2: Enter your product name or keyword in the search bar or search using the filter options. Select your product from the list.

Step 3: On the next page, select your brand name or click on ‘Couldn’t find brand’ to enter a new brand. If it’s a preexisting product, enter the catalogue ID in ‘Clone Catalogue Specifications’ and click on ‘Submit’ to publish a duplicate catalogue.

Step 4: Enter the required details in ‘Catalogue Information’, including model name, product name, description, product URL, etc. Then, click on ‘Save and Proceed’.

Step 5: Select the seller category and enter the required details. Resellers have to enter their authorisation number, date, agency name, etc., while OEMs must specify their origin country and select Yes/No in the Make in India (MII) declaration.

Step 6: Enter the SKU, HSN code, MRP, delivery details and offer price. Next, fill in the rest of the product specifications and your business’s relevant certifications.

Step 7: Upload at least three images of your product as per the given instructions. After that, click on ‘Review Terms and Conditions’, review them and click on ‘Publish’.

You will be able to see all your published products by going to the GeM dashboard after approval. Now, you can start bidding on tenders for relevant products/services.

Here are the most important things you need to know once you’ve learnt how to become a seller on the GeM portal:

• Types of Bids/Tenders: Sellers can opt for direct purchase bids for orders up to ₹25,000, L1 purchases for orders between ₹25,000 and ₹5,00,000 and bidding/reverse auctions for others. Buyers can also get specific products via intent of buying PAC and custom BOQ bids.

• Seller Categories: OEMs (producers with own brands), resellers (authorised sellers of branded products) and service providers (registered sellers of services).

• Fees and Charges: The GeM portal does not levy any registration charges. However, a fixed, one-time initial deposit called caution money is charged to all registered sellers to participate in new bids. It ranges from ₹2000 to ₹25,000 depending on the business turnover. Transaction fees and annual milestone charges (AMC) are also applicable.

• Portal Registration Time: Registering a new seller account takes between 20 minutes and 4 months, while uploading new products takes between 3 days and 4 months, based on the approval time. The turnaround time for brand approval is approximately 4 days.

The GeM portal lets businesses establish their presence in the Indian public sector. Startups and MSEs can sell on the GeM portal to quickly grow a client base and gain credibility by delivering high-quality products and services. To maximise your success, ensure to keep your listings updated, respond quickly to buyers and avoid late deliveries at all costs.

For businesses that wish to be extra safe and avoid losing their initial deposits, there are different commercial insurance policies in the market to limit potential liabilities. Business insurance policies like the professional indemnity insurance and marine insurance can be helpful in this regard.

Startups, micro businesses and small businesses looking for additional financial protection can get insurance for small businesses from TATA AIG. The TATA AIG Fire Policy is recommended for any business with high-value inventories or equipment. It offers coverage up to ₹50 crores on financial losses and repair costs.