Incomplete E-way Bill: Penalty cannot be imposed for minor technical error

By Ansh Mishra Goods and Services Tax Judiciary June 7, 2024

TaxGuru Citation: 2024 taxguru.in 2953
Case Name: Novateur Electrical and Digital Systems Pvt. Ltd. Vs Addl. Commissioner of State Tax Appeals cum Appellate (Punjab and Haryana High Court)
Appeal Number: Only available for paid members
Date of Judgement/Order: Only available for paid members
Courts: All High Courts, Punjab and Haryana HC

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Novateur Electrical and Digital Systems Pvt. Ltd. Vs Addl. Commissioner of State Tax Appeals cum Appellate (Punjab and Haryana High Court)

Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST | Dated 14^th September, 2018

Section 68 of the CGST Act, 2017 along with Rule 138A of the CGST Rules, 2017 states that “the person in charge of a conveyance carrying goods valued at more than Rs 50,000/- must carry specific documents. These documents include the invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan, bill of entry, and a valid e-way bill in either physical or electronic form for verification.” Now if the person in charge didn’t had any of the above cited required document then seziure of goods and penalty can be imposed by invoking section 129 and 130 of the CGST Act. But there are some reliefs on the ground of minor technical errors.

For Instance in Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST it is clarified that:

Further, in case a consignment of goods is accompanied with an invoice or any other specified document and also an e-way bill, proceedings under section 129 of the CGST Act may not be initiated, inter alia, in the following situations:

a) Spelling mistakes in the name of the consignor or the consignee but the GSTIN, wherever applicable, is correct;

b) Error in the pin-code but the address of the consignor and the consignee mentioned is correct, subject to the condition that the error in the PIN code should not have the effect of increasing the validity period of the e-way bill;

c) Error in the address of the consignee to the extent that the locality and other details of the consignee are correct;

d) Error in one or two digits of the document number mentioned in the e-way bill;

e) Error in 4 or 6 digit level of HSN where the first 2 digits of HSN are correct and the rate of tax mentioned is correct;

f) Error in one or two digits/characters of the vehicle number.

And in the very next paragraph the amount of penalty on minor technical issues is also clarified that is:

In case of the above situations, penalty to the tune of Rs. 500/- each under section 125 of the CGST Act and the respective State GST Act should be imposed (Rs.1000/- under the IGST Act) in FORM GST DRC-07 for every consignment

To support the above averment a case of Punjab & Haryana High Court in the matter of NOVATEUR ELECTRICAL AND DIGITAL SYSTEMS(P) LTD. V. ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER where it was observed that: