E-Way Bill Rollout: All You Need to Know

E-Way Bill - GST

Finally, the most-awaited Electronic Bill (E-Way Bill) mechanism is to be implemented by the Central Government on 1st February 2018. From tomorrow, the traders are required to carry e-way bill during the inter-state movement of goods when the value of the same exceeds Rs. 50,000/- under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

The following are some of the Key Features of Electronic Way Bill System.

  • Electronic Way Bill (E-Way Bill) is basically a compliance mechanism wherein by way of a digital interface the person causing the movement of goods uploads the relevant information prior to the commencement of movement of goods and generates e-way bill on the GST portal. It is a mechanism to ensure that goods being transported comply with the GST Law and is an effective tool to track the movement of goods and check tax evasion.
  • Under the E-Way Bill mechanism, the Government can track all the inter-State movement of goods worth above Rs 50000/-.
  • Over 150 items of common use, including LPG cylinders, vegetables, food grain and jewellery, will be exempt from such transport permits, which can be checked by designated tax officials by intercepting a transporting vehicle. Goods moved on non-motorised conveyance, such as carts, are also outside the net.
  • With the implementation of Goods and Services Tax law, all the check posts and entry tax have been abolished to make transportation of goods more efficient and smoother.
  • So far, most of the States have mandated E-Way Bill for inter-State Supplies from the rollout date and deferred the use of EWB for intra-state supplies for a short time due to many reasons.
  • The system mandates generation of E-Way Bill by a registered person when he effects a transportation of good worth above fifty thousand beyond 10 km. the EWB has to be generated before the transportation starts. The EWB is valid for one day for transportation up to 100 km. for 200 km, the validity is two days.
  • To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter will have to upload details on the GSTN portal, after which a unique e-way bill number (EBN) will be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the common portal.
  • An E-way bill contains two parts- Part A to be furnished by the person who is causing movement of goods of consignment value exceeding Rs.50,000/- and part B (transport details) to be furnished by the person who is transporting the goods.
  • Where the goods are transported by a registered person whether as consignor or recipient, the said person shall have to generate the e-way bill by furnishing information in part B on the GST common portal.
  • Where the e-way bill is not generated by registered person and the goods are handed over to the transporter for transportation by road, the registered person shall furnish the information relating to the transporter in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01 on the common portal and the e-way bill shall be generated by the transporter on the said portal on the basis of the information furnished by the registered person in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01.
  • The validity of e-way bill depends on the distance to be traveled by the goods. For a distance of less than 100 Km, the e-way bill will be valid for a day from the relevant date.
  • For every 100 Km thereafter, the validity will be added one day from the relevant date. The “relevant date” shall mean the date on which the e-way bill has been generated and the period of validity shall be counted from the time at which the e-way bill has been generated and each day shall be counted as twenty-four hours.
  • In general, the validity of the e-way bill cannot be extended. However, Commissioner may extend the validity period only by way of issue of notification for certain categories of goods which shall be specified later.
  • In exceptional circumstances, if the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may generate another e-way bill after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
  • If the goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill may be canceled electronically on the common portal, either directly or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner, within 24 hours of generation of the e-waybill.
  • E-way bill cannot be canceled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B of the CGST Rules, 2017.

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