GST E-way Bill Decoded

E-Way Bill is an Electronic Way bill for movement of goods to be generated on the e-Way Bill Portal. The provisions governing E-way bill are provided in Rule 138 of CGST Rules, 2017.

Below are the various provisions of E-way Bill in simplified language to help the audience in understanding the nitty-gritties of the EWB provisions.

Every registered person -> causes movement of goods -> consignment value > Rs. 50,000/-

Shall,

Before commencement of movement -> fill Part A of Form GST EWB-01 electronically on common portal -> a Unique number will be generated.

Alternatively, a transporter on authorization received from the Registered Person may furnish the information in Part A of Form GST EWB-01.

> Unique number is generated after furnishing the information in Part-A which shall be valid for 15 days for furnishing the information in Part-B.

> If goods are transported by Road -> EWB will be generated only after furnishing the info in Part-B of Form GST EWB-01 -> commencement of movement can be done after filing info in Part-B

> If goods are transported by Rail*/ Air/ Vessel -> info in Part-B can be furnished either before or after the commencement of movement of goods

* If the goods are transported through Rail, the railways should not deliver the goods unless the EWB required is not furnished at the time of delivery.

> E-way bill shall not be valid unless the information in Part-B is not furnished. Part-B is not required to be filled if the goods are transported within the state and:

• Where the distance between the place of business of consignor and the place of business of transporter is upto 50 KMs
• Where the distance between the place of business of consignee and the place of business of transporter is upto 50 KMs

Points to remember

• Where the goods are supplied by URP to RP, then the movement shall be said to be caused by such RP.
• E-way bill once generated cannot be modified and only remedy is to cancel the e-way bill and generate a new e-way bill with correct information.
• Carrying physical copy of EWB is not mandatory and only EWB number/ Soft copy will be considered as sufficient compliance.

E-Way bill in case of E-commerce operator/ courier agency

On authorization from the consignor, e-commerce operator/ courier agency may generate the E-way bill in Form GST EWB-01.

Conditions where EWB is required even if consignment value is less than Rs. 50,000/-

• Where there is inter-state movement of goods from Principal to Job Worker, E-way bill shall be generated irrespective of the value of consignment
• Where there is inter-state movement of Handicraft goods by the person who is exempted from obtaining registration , E-way bill shall be generated irrespective of the value of consignment

Generation of e-way bill even if not required

• A Registered Person/ Transporter may at his option generate the e-way bill even if the consignment value does not exceed Rs. 50,000/-
• Where the movement of goods is caused by an URP to another URP, then he may at his option generate the e-way bill in the manner as specified.

Change of Conveyance

Where goods are transferred from one conveyance to another, then the consignor/ consignee or transporter shall update the details of conveyance in Part-B before commencing further movement of goods.

Assigning E-way bill to other transporter

• The consignor/consignee or transporter may assign the e-way bill number to another transporter for updating the information in Part-B for further movement of the consignment.
• Once the information in Part-B has been updated, the consignor/ consignee shall not be allowed to further assign the E-way bill to another transporter but the new transporter can further assign the e-way bill to another transporter.

Consolidated E-way bill

• The transporter may furnish the details of all the valid E-way bills in Form GST EWB-02 prior to commencement of movement of goods if multiple consignments are intended to be transported in single conveyance.
• Where the goods are intended to be transported inter-state through Road and where the consignor/ consignee has not generated a E-way bill and the aggregate value of the consignments to be carried in the conveyance exceeds Rs. 50,000/-, the transporter shall generate e-way bill in Form EWB-01 or EWB-02 on the basis of information available in the invoice/ bill of supply/ delivery challan before commencement of movement of goods.

Cancellation of E-way Bill

• Where the e-way bill has been generated but goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the furnished details, the e-way bill may be cancelled electronically within 24 hours of generation of e-way bill.
• Provided the e-way bill cannot be cancelled once it has been verified in transit.

Validity of E-way Bill

• If the goods cannot be transported within the validity period, the transporter may extend the validity by updating the details in Part-B only under the circumstances of exceptional nature like:
  • Vehicle breakdown
  • Natural Calamity
  • Law and order issue
  • Transshipment delay etc.
• The validity of the e-way bill can be extended within 4 hours before or after the time of its expiry.

Determination of validity of e-way bill

It can be explained with the help of following example:

1. Suppose an e-way bill is generated at 00:10 hrs. on 3^rd Then 1^st day would end on 12:00 midnight of 4^th-5^th October. Similarly second day will end on 12:00 midnight of 5^th– 6^th October.

2. Suppose an e-way bill is generated at 23:45 hrs. on 3^rd October. Then 1^st day would end on 12:00 midnight of 4^th-5^th October. Similarly second day will end on 12:00 midnight of 5^th– 6^th October.

Acceptance/ Rejection of e-way bill

The consignor/ consignee shall communicate his acceptance/ rejection of the consignment covered by the e-way bill within 72 hours of the details being made available. If the acceptance/ rejection not communicated within the prescribed time then it will be deemed as accepted by the consignor/ consignee.

Situations where e-way bill is not required

• Goods specified in Annexure below

• Transportation by non-motorised conveyance
• Transport from customs port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an ICD or container freight station for clearance by Customs
• Transport of goods notified in the schedule appended to Notification No. 2/2017 – Central Tax (Rate) dated 28^th June 2017 except de-oiled cake.
• Transport of alcohol for human consumption, petroleum crude, HSD, Petrol, Natural Gas or Aviation turbine fuel
• Transport of goods treated as no supply under Schedule III if the Act
• Transit cargo from or to Nepal or Bhutan
• Transport of exempted goods
• Defense formation under Ministry of Defenses as consignor/ consignee
• Where consignor of goods is CG/ SG/ Local Authority for transport of goods by Rail
• Transportation of empty cargo containers
• Where goods are moved from place of business of consignor to a weighment bridge and the distance between both is not more than 20 Kms and the movement is accompanied by a Delivery Challan
• Empty cylinders for packing of LPG for reasons other than supply.

Requirement of e-way bill if goods are moved by consumer himself

E-way bill is required even if the goods are purchased and moved by consumer himself to the destination if the consignment value > Rs. 50,000/-. The consumer can ask the taxpayer/ supplier to generate the e-way bill or the consumer can enroll as citizen on the common portal and generate the e-way bill himself.

Information to be furnished in e-way bill

Part A

• GSTIN of supplier
• Place of Dispatch alongwith PIN code
• GSTIN of recipient
• Place of Delivery alongwith PIN code
• Document Number – Invocie/ Bill of Supply/ Delivery Challan
• Document Date
• Value of Goods
• HSN Code – upto 2 digits if taxpayer’s annual turnover in the preceding FY is upto 5 crores and upto 4 digits if more than 5 crores
• Reason for transportation – Supply, Export/ Import, Job Work, SKD/ CKD/ Sales Return, Exhibition/ Fares, Own Use

Part B

• Vehicle Registration Number for Road
• Transport Document No/ Defense Vehicle No/ Temporary Vehicle Reg No/ Nepal or Bhutan Vehicle Reg. No.

Bill to Ship to Model

Only one EWB is required to be generated which can be generated by either ‘A’ or ‘B’

Goods moved under Batches/ Lots

Single Tax Invoice with complete quantity -> Every lot to be accompanied with Copy of Invoice, Delivery Challan and EWB prepared as per Delivery Challan -> Last lot to be accompanied with Original Invoice, Delivery Challan and EWB with details of last lot -> CKD/ SKD/ Lots sub-supply to be selected while generating the EWBs

Non-compliance of EWB Rules

• Moving goods without generating EWB attracts a penalty of 10,000/- or the tax sought to be evaded, whichever is higher.
• Vehicle and Goods can be detained and seized and will be released only after:
  • paying penalty equal to 100% of tax payable, if the owner of goods comes forward
  • paying penalty equal to 50% of the value of goods, if the owner of the goods doesn’t come forward