E Way Bill System

Introduction of the E-Way Bill System

With the introduction of the Goods and Service Tax, the business sector has undergone a major change. GST which has subsumed several indirect taxes has brought a tremendous change is the way taxes were being collected. Along with this, the logistics too had a complex process earlier which has now been simplified with the introduction of E-way Bill system.

The business policies and regulations are being mitigated by the government in order to encourage and foster internal trade and business relations in the country. These provisions are being made by the government in order to help increase the GDP of the country which will help us bolster our stand in the global economic landscape. In such a situation, the businesses are finding new opportunities for expansion.

Now, with the introduction of E Way Bill, the legal formalities for transportation of goods has been streamlined.

Now, let us understand the E Way Bill System in detail.

What is the E Way Bill System?

The GST E Way Bill is an electronic way bill that needs to be produced while transporting goods worth more than Rs. 50,000 by vehicle. The number of inter-state e-Way bills generated between the year 2018-2019 is nearly about 2487 Lakhs while the number of intra-state e-Way bills is 3090 Lakhs. The e-Way bill can only be generated if the taxpayer is registered in the e-Way bill portal.  

The e-Way bill can be generated on ewaybillgst.gov.in or even through SMS. After generating an e-Way bill, the unique E-Way Bill Number (EBN) is allocated to the supplier, recipient and the transporter.

Now let us try to understand the concept of E-way Bill.

What is E-way bill?

The E-way bill is a new form of document introduced by the government to curb tax evasion under the Value Added Tax laws. The E-way bill unifies all standard documentation procedures defined under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime. Every registered person who is involved in the movement of goods are required to generate the e-way bill irrespective of whether it is an interstate or an intrastate deal. The e-way bill is required to be generated if there is a movement of goods in a vehicle/conveyance of value more than Rs. 50,000 (either each invoice or the sum of all invoices of all those goods in the vehicle or conveyance).

Who should Generate an E-way Bill?

As per the rules prescribed by the Goods and Service Tax Act, there are three parties who are required to generate e-way bill. They are as follows:

(1) Unregistered Person

An e-way bill is required to be generated by an unregistered person too. When a consignment is being sent by an unregistered person (supplier) to a registered person, it is the responsibility of the registered person (recipient) to ensure all the compliances are being met by the unregistered person while the consignment is being sent.

(2) Registered Person

If the value of a consignment that is being sent or received is more than Rs. 50,000, an e-way bill has to be generated mandatorily. An e-way bill can be generated by the registered person or the transporter even if the value of the goods being transported is less than Rs. 50,000.

(3) Transporter

There is a provision for transporters to generate e-way bill for carrying goods by road, rail, air etc. The transporter needs to generate e-way bill if the supplier has not generated the e-way bill.

How to Generate an E-Way Bill

A supplier/recipient can GST E Way Bill on the e-way bill portal. Now let us try to understand the intricacies with regards to generating an e-way bill:

1. All information with regards to the transported goods needs to be furnished by the registered person in Part A section of Form GST-INS-01
   

2. In order to auto populate the Part A of the form, the tax invoice can be uploaded by the registered person which is issued in Form GST-INV-01 in order to auto populate the Part A of the Form.
   

3. Once this is done, the consignor/consignee would need to furnish the details in Part B of the Form GST-INS-01 and then generate the e-way bill based on the information furnished in Part A.

4. Once the e-way bill is generated, a unique e-way bill number would be generated and would be made accessible to the three parties - the supplier, the recipient and the transporter.

5. The recipient is required to communicate about the acceptance or rejection of the consignment, and if not the consignment would be deemed accepted within a period of 72 hours.

Please click here to understand the complete procedure to generate E Way Bill on the e-way bill portal.

Validity of E-way Bill

The validity of an e-way bill is calculated from the date and time of generation of e-way bill. The validity of the e-way bill is based on the distance travelled by the goods which have been explained below:

E Way Bill Format