An E-way bill is a document required for transport of goods, under GST laws for movement of goods, if the value of goods is more than Rs.50,000/- through road, railways, airways and vessels except for certain specified goods as notified by the Government. The person in charge of a conveyance carrying any goods shall carry Tax invoice along with e-way bill and present to the Check post authority at entry point of any States or Union territory for scrutiny of Tax paid goods and also facilitates the transit checking of goods by the GST officer.
Advantages of E-Way Bill
(i) Easy access to e-way bill portal by the supplier, recipient and transporter,
(ii) Unique single document valid for the across the country,
(iii) Quick generation and cancellation of e-way bill,
(iv) To control tax evasion in the Country,
(v) To ensure there is no pilferages of goods in transit, no mismatch of input tax credit.
(vi) Hassle free movement of goods throughout the country,
(vii) Tracking of the movement of goods with RFID mapped with vehicle,
(viii) Provisions allowed for consolidation and extension of validity of e-way bill,
(ix) Easier for transit checking by the authorised officer.
Purpose of E-Way Bill
E-way bill is a mechanism to ensure that goods being transported comply with the GST Law and is an effective tool to track movement of goods and check tax evasion.
Voluntary Generation of E-way bill
A registered person or transporter has option to generate e-way bill even in those cases where value of goods is less than Rs.50,000/-. Like that an unregistered person who is causing movement of goods either in his own conveyance or a hired one or through a transporter, has an option, generate the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01on the common portal. Similarly, where the goods are transported for a distance of less than 10 kilometers within the State or Union territory from the place of business of the consignor to the place of business of the transporter may not furnish the details of conveyance in Part B FORM GST EWB-01.
Power of Extension of Validity
The Commissioner has the power to extend the validity period of e-way bill for certain categories of goods as may be specified in the notification to be issued by him on recommendation of GST Council.
Extension of valid period by the Transporter
Where under circumstances of an exceptional nature, including transshipment , the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill; the transporter may extend the validity period after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
Acceptance / Rejection of E-way bill
The details of e-way Bill generated shall be made available to the registered recipient, if generated by consignor and vice versa on the E-way Bill portal. It is responsibility of recipient / consignor to communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment covered by the e-way bill. However, where the receipent / consignor does not communicate his acceptance or rejection within 72 hours on common portal or the time of delivery of goods whichever is earlier , it shall be deemed that he has accepted the said details.
No requirement of e-way bill on the following cases where:
(i) the goods being transported are specified in Annexure under Rule 138(14) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules,2017;
(ii) the goods are being transported by a non-motorized conveyance;
(iii) the goods are being transported from the port , airport, air cargo complex and land Customs Station to Inland Container Depot or Container Freight Station ( for clearance by Customs);
(iv) the movement of goods within areas notified under clause (d) of sub-rule (14) of the Goods and Services Tax Rules of the Concerned State;
(v) goods exempted from GST;
(vi) alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit ( commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel;
(vii) goods which have been declared as ‘ no supply’ in Schedule III of CGST Act,2017;
(viii) where the goods are being transported under Customs bond from an inland container depot or a container freight station to a Customs port, airport, air cargo complex and land Customs station, or from one Customs station or Customs port to another Customs station or Customs port, or under Customs supervision or under Customs seal;
(ix) where the goods being transported are transit cargo from or to Nepal or Bhutan;
(x) any movement of goods caused by defence formation under Ministry of defence as a consignor or consignee;
(xi) where the consignor of goods is the Central Government, Government of any State or a local authority for transport of goods by rail;
(xii) where empty cargo containers are being transported ; and
(xiii) where the goods are being transported upto a distance of twenty kilometers from the place of business of the consignor to a weighbridge for weighment or from the weighbridge back to the place of business of the said consignor subject to condition that the movement of goods is accompanied by a delivery challan issued in accordance with Rule 55.
Penal Provisions
If the supplier or transporter not generate the e-way bills, the same will be considered as contravention of statutory provisions of GST law. A taxable person who transports any taxable goods without the cover of specified documents / e-way bill, shall be liable to pay a penalty of Rs.10,000/- or an amount equivalent to the tax evaded. Where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, all such goods and conveyance used as a means of transport for carrying the said goods and documents relating to such goods and conveyance shall be liable to detention or seizure to recover applicable tax and penalty from the person transporting goods and the owner of the goods.
