E-Way Bills under GST Law
An E-way bill is a crucial document that must be held by the individual overseeing the transportation of goods valued at more than fifty thousand rupees. This requirement is established by the Government under Section 68 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, in conjunction with Rule 138 of the accompanying regulations.
Registered individuals or transporters responsible for initiating the movement of goods generate the E-way bill directly from the GST Common Portal. This documentation is imperative for compliance and facilitates the seamless transportation of consignments.
The common portal for generation of e-way bills is E-WayBill System (e waybill gst.gov.in)
e-way bill Requirement under GST
Section 68 of the Goods and Services Tax Act mandates that the Government may require the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding such amount as may be specified to carry with him such documents and such devices as may be prescribed. Rule 138 of Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 prescribes e-way bill as the document to be carried for the consignment of goods of value more than rupees fifty thousand.
Government has issued a notification under rule 138 of Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 mandating to carry e-way bill for transportation of goods of consignment of value more than rupees fifty thousand. Hence e-way bills generated from the common portal are required to be carried.
Generation of e-way bills by Registered Persons
Every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees in relation to supply; or reasons other than supply; or inward supply from unregistered persons shall generate e-way bills. It means, the consignor or consignee, as a registered person or a transporter of the goods can generate the e-way bill.
The unregistered transporter can enrol on the common portal and generate the e-way bill for movement of goods for his clients. Any person can also enrol and generate the e-way bill for movement of goods for his/her own use.
Updation of vehicle number in e-way bills
The e-way bill is not valid without the vehicle number updated on the common portal, if the mode of transport is the road. The Vehicle number can be updated by the generator of the e-way bill or the transporter assigned for that e-way bill by the generator.
Prerequisites to generate the e-way bill
To generate the e-way bill, it is essential that the person shall be registered person and if the transporter is not registered person it is mandatory to get enrolled on the common portal of e-waybill (https://ewaybillgst.gov.in/) before generation of the eway bill.
The documents such as tax invoice or bill of sale or delivery challan and Transporter’s Id, who is transporting the goods with transporter document number or the vehicle number in which the goods are transported.
Mistakes/Wrong Entry in e-way Bills
If there is a mistake, incorrect or wrong entry in the e-way bill, then it cannot be edited or corrected. Only option available is cancellation of e-way bills and generating a new one with correct details.
Cancellation of e-way bills
Yes. e-way bill can be cancelled if either goods are not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill. e-way bills can be cancelled within 24 hours from the time of generation.
Change of Vehicle carrying goods – impact on e-way bills
The e-way bill for transportation of goods should always have the vehicle number that is actually carrying the goods. There may be a requirement to change the vehicle number after generating the e-way bill or after commencement of movement of goods due to transshipment or due to breakdown of vehicle.
In such cases, the transporter or generator of the e-way bill can update the changed vehicle number.
Transporter enrolment requirement
There may be some transporters, who are not registered under the Goods and Services Tax Act and if such transporters cause the movement of goods for their clients, they are required to generate the e-way bill on behalf of their clients to update the vehicle number for the e-way bill.
Hence, they need to enrol on the e-way bill portal and generate the 15 digits Unique Transporter Id.
Transportation of Goods with e-way bill but without vehicle details
One needs to transport the goods with an e-way bill specifying the vehicle number, which is a carrying the goods. However, where the goods are transported for a distance of less than ten kilometres within the State from the place of business of consignor to the place of transporter for further transportation, then the vehicle number is not mandatory.
E-way Bill Requirement Mandate
The e-way bill is required to transport all the taxable goods with the value exceeding fifty thousand rupees except 154 goods specified in Annexure to the notification.
Consolidated e-way bills
Consolidated e-way bill is a document containing the multiple e-way bills for multiple consignments being carried in one conveyance (goods vehicle). That is, the transporter, carrying the multiple consignments of various consignors and consignees in one vehicle is required to carry one consolidated e-way bill instead of carrying multiple e-way bills for those consignments.
A transporter can generate the consolidated e-way bills for movement of multiple consignments in one vehicle.
Deletion/Cancellation of e-way bills
The e-way bill once generated cannot be deleted. However, it can be cancelled by the generator within 24 hours of generation. If it has been verified by any empowered officer, then it cannot be cancelled. e-way bill can be cancelled if either goods are not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill.
Rejection of e-way bills
The person who causes transport of goods shall generate the e-way bill specifying the
details of another person as a recipient of goods. There is a provision in the common
portal for the other party to see the e-way bill generated against his/her GSTIN. As the
other party, one can communicate the acceptance or rejection of such consignment
specified in the e-way bill. If the acceptance or rejection is not communicated within 72
hours from the time of generation of e-way Bill, it is deemed that he has accepted the
Details.
Handling passage of goods having e-way bills through transshipment and through different vehicles
Some of the consignments are transported by the transporter through transshipment before it is delivered to the recipient at the place of destination. Hence for each movement from one place to another, the transporter needs to update the vehicle number in which he is transporting that consignment.
Validity period of e-way bills
Validity of the e-way bill or consolidated e-way bill depends upon the distance the goods have to be transported. The validity is one day upto 100 km and for every 100 km or part thereafter it is one additional day.
E-way bills – Transaction based requirements
For transportation of goods in relation to all types of transactions such as outward supply whether within the State or interstate, inward supply whether from within the State or from interstate including from an unregistered persons or for reasons other than the e-way bill is mandatory.
Generation requirement depending on person
Every registered person, who causes movement of goods, needs to generate the e-way bill. If the registered person is unable to generate the e-way bill, the transporter who is transporting the goods can generate the e-way bill on behalf of his/her client.
If the movement is caused by an unregistered person, he may at his option generate the eway bill.
Different modes of transportation in carriage of goods having e-way bills and updation of details
One can transport the goods through different modes of transportation – Road, Rail, Air, Ship. However, an e-way bill needs to be updated with the latest mode of transportation or conveyance number accordingly.
That is, at any point of time, the details of conveyance specified in the e-way bill on the portal should match with the details of conveyance through which goods are actually being transported.
Documents that need to be carried along with the goods being transported
The person in charge of a conveyance shall carry the tax invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be; and a copy of the e-way bill or the e-way bill number generated from the common portal.
Generation of e-way bill from different registered business places
The registered person can generate the e-way bill from his account from any registered business place. However, he/she needs to enter the address accordingly in the e-way bill. He/she can also create multiple sub-users and assign to these places and generate the e-way bills accordingly.
GST Taxpayer Registration for e-way bills
All the registered persons under GST shall also register on the portal of e-way bill using his GSTIN. Once GSTIN is entered, the system sends the OTP to his registered mobile number and after authenticating the same, the system enables him to generate his/her username and password for the e-way bill system.
After generation of username and password of his choice, he/she may proceed to make entries to generate e-way bills.
Modes of e-way bill generation
The e-way bill can be generated by the registered person in any of the following methods;-
o Using Web based system
o Using SMS based facility
o Using Android App
o Using Site-to-Site integration
o Using GSP (Goods and Services Tax Suvidha Provider)
Usage of SMS Facility for e-way bill generation
The taxpayer has to register the mobile numbers through which he wants to generate the e-way bill on the e-way bill system.
Android app for generation of e-way bills
The taxpayer has to register the IMEI numbers of the mobiles through which he wants to generate the e-way bill on the e-way bill system.
Integration of system with an e-way bill system to generate the e-way bills from supplier/taxpayer’s system
The taxpayer should register the server details of his/her systems through which he wants to generate the e-way bill using the APIs of the e-way bill system.
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