Travel Agent Registration: Licence and GST

You want to open a travel desk, and the first thing you hear is “you need a licence”. Then someone else says you don’t. Both can be half right, because there isn’t one single registration for a travel agency in India. There are several separate questions, and each one has a different office that answers it.

So don’t start by asking “what’s the licence?”. Start by writing down what your agency will do: rail tickets, air tickets, bus bookings, hotel stays, domestic packages, overseas packages. Then ask, for each one, who decides.

Which registration questions are separate?

The Ministry of Tourism’s reply published by PIB on 12 December 2024 says its recognition or approval for travel-trade and hospitality providers is a voluntary scheme. That’s the part people quote. What they leave out is that “voluntary” describes this one scheme. It doesn’t mean every other business or service requirement is optional too.

Here’s a simple map to start with.

Think of this as a planning map, not a full legal checklist. Your own location and structure can add more questions, and your adviser should help you find them.

The same Ministry reply says complaints about service delivery are received through CPGRAMS and directly, and sent to the authority concerned.

Now suppose a seller offers you a “government travel licence”. Ask three things. Which scheme is it? Which body issues it? What document do you get? And does it cover GST, premises or supplier appointments? In most cases it won’t cover all of them, and you should ask before you pay.

What do state and local rules cover?

Ask your state tourism department which requirements apply to the activities and location you have in mind. Ask the relevant municipal or labour authority about the shop or establishment position for your premises.

When you ask, describe the real business. Say whether customers will visit the premises. Don’t just ask “do travel agents need a licence?”, because that gets you a general answer to a question that isn’t yours.

If you plan to work from home, say so to every office and every supplier you deal with. Another agent’s accepted address isn’t approval for yours. And keep every written answer on file, with the date and the name of the person or office that gave it.

Does a travel agency need GST registration?

This is a question to take to an adviser, with your actual business model in hand. What we can tell you is what the law says in general.

As of 18 October 2026, section 22(1) of the CGST Act states a general registration threshold of aggregate turnover exceeding twenty lakh rupees for taxable supplies from states or Union territories other than special-category states, subject to its provisos. Section 24 lists categories that must register notwithstanding section 22(1), including persons making taxable supplies on behalf of other taxable persons as an agent or otherwise.

That’s why “I’m under twenty lakh, so I’m fine” is a risky thing to assume. Whether section 24 reaches you depends on how your contracts are written, and an adviser can only tell you that once they’ve seen them.

So don’t rely on a turnover headline alone. Give the adviser your proposed contracts, locations, receipts and the amounts you pass on to suppliers. Also tell them about any other services you sell, because they may affect the answer.

There’s one more tax point that confuses new agents. CBIC’s valuation rules describe a deemed value for air-travel-agent ticket-booking services: five per cent of basic fare for domestic bookings and ten per cent for international bookings, as checked on 18 October 2026. That’s a tax valuation method. It is not the commission your agency will receive. Keep your commercial agreement with the airline or provider and your tax treatment as two separate records, even if they use similar words.

Do you need your own IATA accreditation?

IATA’s accreditation page says its unique code identifies an accredited agent as a member of the Billing and Settlement Plan, and describes GoLite, GoStandard, GoEurozone and GoGlobal options, as of 18 October 2026. If you want your own accreditation, go to IATA’s current country requirements and ask which option fits your business before you rely on any document list or amount you’ve been told.

A provider’s ticketing login is not your own IATA accreditation. That’s a common mix-up. If you plan to work through another company, ask which entity supplies the airline access, who issues the documents your customers receive, and what after-sales terms apply. Don’t describe their accreditation as yours in your advertising. And get written permission for any wording that suggests you’re connected to them.

How do you get rail-agent access?

For railway e-tickets, the route is different from everything above. IRCTC’s Revised Agent Policy, effective 29 November 2019 and checked on 18 October 2026, says the PSP registers the RSP with IRCTC and IRCTC issues the RSP ID for e-ticket booking. It requires Aadhaar verification and PAN at registration, and says the PSP issues a Certificate of Authorisation for display at the outlet.

Read that again, because it matters: you go through a PSP, not straight to IRCTC. See the IRCTC agent registration overview for the retail route and the fees page for SiOnline’s own charges.

Keep those payments separate from anything you pay for tax registration or a Ministry recognition enquiry. They’re different bodies and different receipts. And please don’t use a personal IRCTC account to serve customers while your agent application is pending.

What about bus, hotel and package providers?

Each of these is its own agreement. Ask each provider for the agreement itself and find out what appointment or access it creates. Then ask who supplies the service, who collects the customer’s payment, and who handles changes and disputes. Don’t guess those answers from the fact that you hold some other registration.

If an offer bundles several services, ask for a service-specific inclusion sheet. A bundle name doesn’t prove that onboarding steps or legal requirements have been waived.

Overseas packages need extra care. Take them to your tax adviser by name, as a separate point. Ask the package provider which passport, visa and traveller requirements apply to that tour. And never promise a customer a visa. Your counter doesn’t decide it.

What does it look like when you put this together?

Say a shop owner wants to sell rail tickets and holiday packages under one counter name. This is an example, not a real case. She’d start by writing the list of activities. Then she’d take the proposed model and premises to a tax adviser and the local offices. Rail access would come from a PSP, on its own terms. Packages would come from the package provider, on its own agreement. Two different tracks, two different files.

Suppose that along the way a salesperson offers her a broadly named “travel licence”. She’d ask which body issues it, what the document is, and what it does for the services she’s chosen. She wouldn’t assume it settles GST, premises or supplier appointments. She’d ask for the actual terms before paying.

If she adds airline tickets next year, she’d go back to the adviser and the provider with fresh questions for that line. Is she going for her own accreditation, or working through another entity? The first setup is not permission for every future service.

What should you ask before paying anyone?

Whoever is asking for money, whether it’s an agency selling a “licence”, a provider selling access or a consultant, the same few questions work:

1. Which body issues this, and what exactly will I receive?
2. Which of my questions does it answer, and which does it leave open?
3. What does the payment cover, and what will I have to pay again later?
4. Who gives me the receipt?
5. How can I check the claim on the official body’s own page?

If you can’t get a plain answer to the first two, hold your money back until you can.

How do you keep your registration file in order?

Keep the business structure, premises description, service list and written answers together, and store sensitive documents securely. For every completed registration, write down the issuing body, the exact business name, the scope, the validity and a contact.

Two habits save trouble later:

• Don’t call an acknowledgement an approval. “We received your application” is not “you are registered”.
• Don’t make up an expiry date because another service renews yearly. If nobody has told you when something ends, write “not confirmed”.

Also use the same legal name, trading name and address everywhere. If two records disagree, fix the document before you send in more applications. A shortened shop name on one form and the full legal name on another can hold things up. And never borrow another business’s identifier to finish a supplier form faster.

When you meet an adviser, ask them to note the facts they used, the conclusion they reached, and what change should make you come back, such as a new product or a new premises. That way the advice doesn’t get stale without anyone noticing.

Questions new owners ask

Does voluntary recognition mean no other registration applies? No. The Ministry’s description concerns its own recognition scheme. Ask the tax adviser, the state or local authority and your booking provider about your activities and premises.

Can I use another company’s IATA identity in my advertising? Only as its agreement permits. Don’t present its accreditation as your own, and keep written permission for the exact claim.

What should I ask for after paying a registration charge? Ask what the payment covers, which entity issues the receipt, and what document or account confirms completion. If access still isn’t available, ask for the outstanding step.

Is a rail registration the same as a tourism registration? No. Rail e-ticket access comes through a PSP under IRCTC’s policy. Ministry recognition is a separate, voluntary scheme. One doesn’t replace the other.

For a multi-service enquiry, use SiOnline retailer registration with the service list you’ve prepared, and support for an existing account issue.

Sources

• PIB, Ministry of Tourism, Registered and Unregistered Travel Agents in the Country, 12 December 2024, retrieved 18 October 2026.
• CBIC, CGST Act, section 22 and section 24, retrieved 18 October 2026.
• CBIC, Valuation rules: air-travel-agent services, retrieved 18 October 2026.
• IATA, Travel Agent Accreditation, retrieved 18 October 2026.
• IRCTC, Revised Agent Policy, effective 29 November 2019, retrieved 18 October 2026.

Facts and source material were checked on 18 October 2026. Check the applicable account or package terms again before paying.