E-Way Bill an Overview

According to rule 138 of the CGST (Central Products & Services Tax) Act, all enterprises registered under GST who carry goods valued at more than ?50,000/- are required to use the GST e-way bill or waybill. The E-Way bill itself serves as a compliance tool to make sure that products being transported adhere to GST law. Prior to the transfer, it is put onto the GST site together with the relevant data regarding the products that are being transferred. It makes it possible to trace them better.

Who needs GST E-Way Bill?

Consignor/Consignee: When transportation of goods valued over ?50,000 is carried out by either the Consignor/Consignee registered under GST, the respective person has to generate the E-Way Bill.

Transporter: When the goods have been assigned to the transporter to be transported, he/she will generate the E-way Bill.

Transporter by Default: In case, either consignor or consignee have not generated an E-way bill and the value of the goods being transported is more than ?50,000/-, it will be the responsibility of the transporter to generate the E-Way Bill.

Transfer to Job Worker: Where a principal located in a State/Union Territory transfers goods to a job worker located in another, the E-Way Bill is generated by the principal regardless of the consignment value.

Benefits of GST E-Way Bills

Removes the bottleneck complications of the bill generation system established under the VAT taxation system. | Also under the VAT system, different states prescribed different rules for generating E-Way Bills. Under GST, there is a stable and consistent system for generating E-Way bills throughout the country. | It provides a digital interface to enter information and generate the E-Way Bills, and thereby facilitate faster movement of goods. | By being able to track the movement of goods, it aims to reduce the turnaround time, travel time, and costs.

Validity of a GST E-Way Bill

• The E-way bill validity depends on the distance to be travelled.
• For distances, less than 100 km, the E-Way bill validity is 1 day from the ‘relevant date’.
• The ‘relevant date’ refers to the date on which the GST E-Way bill was generated.
• For every 100 Km travelled after the first hundred, an additional day is added to the existing 1-day E-Way bill validity, from the relevant date.
• This is not an extension, but an addition as per the rules of validity.
• In general, the validity period cannot be extended. Unless notification is issued by the commissioner based on the category of goods.
• Also, if goods cannot be transported as per the validity period, the transporter can update the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01 and generate a new GST E-Way bill.

Penalties for non-compliance of E-way bill system

• Rule 138 of Consumer Goods and Services Tax Act (CGST) 2017 states that if E-Way bills are not issued in accordance with the provisions contained in the CGST Rules, 2017, the same will be considered as contravention of the rules of the E-way bill system!
• Section 122 states that if taxable individuals transport taxable goods without the requisite documents (including GST E-way bills) they are liable to pay a penalty of ?10,000/-, , or considered as tax evaded under rules of the E-way bill system. (Whichever is greater at the time of application)
• Section 129 of Consumer Goods and Services Tax Act (CGST) 2017 states, where individuals transport goods or store them while in transit, they are in contravention of the provisions of the E-way bill system. As such, those goods and documents pertaining to them are liable to be detained or seized.

Documents required to generate an E-Way Bill

E-Way Bills are generated on the E-Way bill portal (https://ewaybill.nic.in/). Users login her and input the requisite information via the following documents:

• Invoice/Bill/Receipts/ for goods transported.
• Transport documents (if goods are transferred by road) – transporter ID and vehicle information.
• Transport documents (if goods are transferred air/sea/land) – transporter ID, travel document number and date.