apna.live
Most small business websites have no legal information at all. For a shop that only shows information and takes phone calls, that is often survivable.
The moment you take orders, payments or personal details online, several things become genuinely necessary. Here is what matters, without turning it into a legal treatise.
This is general information, not legal advice. For anything specific to your situation, ask your CA or a lawyer.
The basics every business site should have
Your legal entity name. Not just your brand. If you trade as "Glow Studio" but the registered entity is "Sharma Enterprises", both should appear — brand prominently, legal name in the footer or on a details page.
Your registered address. The full one, matching your registration documents.
A working phone number and email.
Your GSTIN, if you are registered. In the footer is standard practice.
Four lines in the footer covers all of it, and it makes the business look like a business rather than an anonymous page.
If you take payments or orders
Payment gateways require these before they will onboard you, and they are sensible to have regardless.
Terms and conditions. What you sell, how orders work, when an order is confirmed, what the customer is agreeing to.
Refund and cancellation policy. Plain language, specific. When can something be cancelled, what is refundable, how long a refund takes. Even two paragraphs is far better than nothing.
Shipping or delivery policy, if you deliver. Areas, timelines, charges.
Contact information, clearly reachable.
These do not need to be long. A page each, written plainly, is enough for a small business and considerably better than a copied template full of clauses that do not apply.
Privacy policy
Needed if you collect any personal information at all — and a contact form asking for a name and phone number counts.
India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 governs this. The practical requirements for a small business are not onerous: tell people what you collect, why, who you share it with, how long you keep it, and how they can ask you to delete it. Give a contact point for privacy questions.
If you use Google Analytics or a similar tool, say so.
Write it in plain language. A privacy policy nobody can read serves nobody.
GST, briefly
If you are registered: display your GSTIN, charge the correct rate, and issue proper tax invoices with your GSTIN, invoice number, date, HSN or SAC code, taxable value and tax split.
If you are not registered: do not display a GST number and do not charge GST as a separate line. Charging tax you are not registered to collect is a real problem, not a technicality.
The thresholds for mandatory registration depend on whether you supply goods or services and which state you are in, and they change. Ask your CA rather than relying on a number from a blog post.
One thing worth knowing: selling through most e-commerce platforms triggers registration requirements regardless of turnover. Selling through your own website generally does not, by itself. If you are near the threshold, this is worth a specific conversation.
Category-specific requirements
Several trades have their own rules about what must be displayed.
Food businesses — your FSSAI licence number must be displayed on your premises, packaging and, in practice, your website if you sell food.
Clinics and healthcare — registration numbers, practitioner qualifications, and restrictions on advertising claims. Medical councils have conduct rules about what you may claim.
Pet shops — registration with the State Animal Welfare Board under the Pet Shop Rules.
Drugs and cosmetics, jewellery (hallmarking), education, travel agents, financial services — each has its own requirements.
If your trade has a licence, put the number on the site. It is a requirement in some cases and a trust signal in all of them.
What you do not need
A cookie banner, in most cases. If you are not running advertising trackers and only use basic analytics, an intrusive consent banner is not required in India the way it is in the EU, and it hurts the experience.
A twelve-page terms document copied from a foreign template. It will contain clauses about jurisdictions you have never heard of and will not help you if there is ever a dispute.
Complex disclaimers for a simple local business.
Match the paperwork to the actual business. A salon website taking booking enquiries does not need what a marketplace needs.
The practical minimum
For a local business with a website that shows information and takes enquiries:
- Legal name, address, phone, email, GSTIN if registered — in the footer.
- A short privacy policy, because you have a contact form.
- Your licence number if your trade has one.
For a business also taking orders or payments online, add:
- Terms and conditions.
- Refund and cancellation policy.
- Delivery policy, if you deliver.
That is a genuinely small amount of work — an afternoon — and it removes a category of problem that is expensive to fix retrospectively.
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