Complete Analysis of GST E Way Bill

Complete Analysis of GST E Way Bill – As Amended by Notification 12/2018-Central Tax, dt. 07-03-2018

The applicability of E Way bill from February 01, 2018 could not be successful due to some technical glitches and has to be deferred by government. However re introduction of E Way bill applicability for inter-state movement of goods has been re-iterated by the government during 26 council meeting on March 10, 2018. Revised E Way bill rules already notified through notification no. 12/2018 Central Tax. As discussed in 26^th council meeting and later confirmed through Notification No. 15/2018 – Central Tax, dated March 23, 2018, date for re introduction will be April 01, 2018 for all interstate movements. For intra state movement applicability will be made by June 01, 2018 in phased manner.

In this article  we will analyse the amendments made to e-way bill rules vide Notification No. 12/2018 – Central Tax, 7th March, 2018 and consolidate the complete updated information on E way bill.

E Way Bill in a summary:

E Way Bill General Rule	Registered person causes movement of goods value > Rs. 50,000, or inward supply from unregistered person: – Before movement of goods – Furnish information in Part A of GST EWB-01 on common portal
Special Cases	Any interstate movement irrespective of value: – Any goods, from Principal to Job Worker – Handicraft goods from person exempted from registration
Who is liable to generate	Registered Person, Transporter, Principal / Registered Job Worker or Person exempted from registration on case to case basis
Furnishing information on behalf of Registered person / Consignor	Part A of GST EWB-01 can be filled, on an authorisation: – From: Registered Person, By: Transporter – From: Consignor , By: E Commerce operator
For whom it is optional	Unregistered person until they are covered under special cases
From where to generate	www.ewaybillgst.gov.in, Android App, SMS, ASP Integration with web portal, using GST Suvidha Provider
Which form	EWB 01, which contains two parts: Part A – Details of goods moved Part B – Detail of vehicle – After filling Part A unique number gets generated. – Only after filling Part A and Part B both, E Way Bill no. (EBN) can be generated
Validity of E Way Bill	Normal Cargo : 1 Day for first 100 Km thereafter for every 100 Km or part thereof additional 1 day Odd Dimension Cargo : 1 Day for first 20 Km thereafter for every 20 Km or part thereof additional 1 day Each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill
Documents Required to generate E Way Bill	– Invoice / Bill of Supply / Delivery Challan for consignment of goods – Transport by road through transporter : Transporter ID or Vehicle number – Transport by road through owned / hired vehicle : Vehicle number – Transport by Rail / Air / Vessel : Transport document number, date of document
Documents / Devices required to carry during Transit	– the invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be – a copy of the e-way bill or the EBN, either physically or – where notified by the Commissioner, EBN mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) embedded on to the conveyance
Exemption from E Way Bill	– Goods specified in annexure to E Way rules – Goods transport form non motorised vehicle – Goods transport from port, airport, aircargo complex and land customs station to Inland container depot or Container Freight Station for Custom clearance – Transport in notified areas (till date no notification) – All goods other than de-oiled cake as specified in the Schedule appended to notification No. 2/2017- Central tax (Rate) dated the 28th June, 2017 as amended from time to time – Alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel – Goods being transported are treated as no supply under Schedule III of the Act – Goods transported under Customs Bond FROM – Inland Container Depot or a Container Freight Station TO – Customs Port, Airport, Aircargo complex and Land Customs Station OR Under – Customs Bond, FROM – One Customs Station or Port, TO – Another Customs Station or Port OR Under – Customs supervision or seal – Goods being transported are transit cargo from or to Nepal or Bhutan – Goods being transported are exempt from tax under: Notification No. 7/2017-Central Tax (Rate)– supplies by CSD to Unit Run Canteens and supplies by CSD / Unit Run Canteens to authorised customers notified under section 11 (1) and section 55 CSD, and Notification No. 26/2017 – Central Tax (Rate)– Exempt certain supplies to NPCIL – Movement of goods caused by defence formation under Ministry of defence as a consignor or consignee – Consignor of goods is the Central Government, Government of any State or a local authority for transport of goods by rail – Empty cargo containers are being transported – Goods are being transported upto a distance of twenty kilometres: From- Place of the business of the consignor, To- Weighbridge for weighment OR From- Weighbridge, To- Place of the business of the said consignor subject to that movement of goods is accompanied by a delivery challan issued in accordance with rule 55 CGST Rules
What are other forms	EWB-02 : Consolidated E Way bill (for transporter, multiple consignment in single vehicle) EWB-03 : Summary report of Inspection by department of goods in transit EWB-04: Intimation by transporter if vehicle is detained for more than 30 minutes GST INV- 1 : For generating Invoice Reference Number (IRN)

Detailed Analysis:

Please note: We shall analyse the rules in totality as if these are applicable to Inter as well Intra State movement. However till June 01, 2018 applicability on Intra state is left at the option of each state.

What is E-Way Bill?

As mandated by the Government in terms of section 68 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act read with rule 138 of the CGST rules 2017 E-way Bill is a document that is required to be carried by custodian of the goods while the goods are in transit. It can be generated from the Common Portal www.ewaybillgst.gov.in before commencement of movement of goods.

General Rule:

This has been provided vide Rule 138(1) which says:

“Every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees—

(i) in relation to a supply; or

(ii) for reasons other than supply; or

(iii) due to inward supply from an unregistered person,

shall, before commencement of such movement, furnish information relating to the said goods in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01, electronically, on the common portal along with such other information as may be required at the common portal and a unique number will be generated on the said portal.”

Analysis of above rule:

• Any movement of goods whether as supply (as defined in Section 7 of CGST Act 2017) or other than supply (e.g. Sale return, Stock Transfer within state, Goods sent for Demo purpose etc) of consignment value > Rs. 50,000 will require E Way Bill
• An inward supply from Unregistered person to Registered person of consignment value > Rs. 50,000 also require E Way bill
• Sub Rule 1 casts “first liability” to “Furnish Information” in Part A on “Registered Person only” who causes movement of goods
• Information must be furnished before commencement of movement of goods

Please note E Way bill will be generated through form EWB-01. This form has Two Parts as “PART A” this contains information w.r.t. Goods in movement and “Part B” which contains details of Vehicle and/or Transporter.

It is also to be noted that this sub rule only ask for “Furnishing of Information” in Part A, however E Way bill will be generated only after filling Part A and Part B both. Therefore this is the first step. Till now E Way bill is not generated only information has been filled.

As soon as the information required is furnished, a unique number now will get generated. This unique number will be helpful to keep a track and identify the E Way bill against which Vehicle number is to be updated when there are multiple Part A filled and saved on portal.

Latest Amendments:

Second Proviso to Sub rule 9 amended:

“Provided further the unique number generated under sub-rule (1) shall be valid for 15 days for updation of Part B of FORM GST EWB-01”

Analysis:

Earlier Part A can be saved only for 72 hours within this time Part B has to be updated. However this time line is now increased to 15 days.

Explanation 2 to sub rule 1 amended:

“For the purposes of this rule, the consignment value of goods shall be the value, determined in accordance with the provisions of section 15, declared in an invoice, a bill of supply or a delivery challan, as the case may be, issued in respect of the said consignment and also includes the central tax, State or Union territory tax, integrated tax and cess charged, if any, in the document and shall exclude the value of exempt supply of goods where the invoice is issued in respect of both exempt and taxable supply of goods”

Analysis:

Consignment Value to check the applicability of e-way bill is to be taken as total invoice value including GST applicable. However since exempt goods are kept out of requirement of E Way bill, therefore where one single invoice is generated

After amendment in CGST rules vide notification number 45/2017-Central Tax,dt. 13-10-2017, rule 46A is inserted which permits issue of Invoice cum Bill of Supply where a registered person is supplying taxable as well as exempted goods or services or both to an unregistered person. This step was taken to provide relief to retailers from multiple type of invoices.

Therefore to maintain relief to retailers and also to maintain consistency with exemption of e way bill for exempted goods this amendment is made.

Who is liable to generate and who has the option to Generate

Now for the purpose of E Way bill, movement can happen in three ways:

• By Road with Service of Transporter
• By Road without service of Transporter through owned vehicle or hired vehicle or through public conveyance
• By Air, Vessel or Railways

Further there can be transaction where:

• Supplier, Recipient both registered
• Only one of them is registered
• Both not registered

This can further be complicated by making each case as two cases considering:

• Transporter is registered in GST
• Transporter is not registered in GST

In light of 138 sub rule 2 and 3, we now try to solve the puzzle by creating a matrix of all possible cases:

Transaction	Recipient	Supplier	Transp-ortation mode	Transporter	EWB-01 Part A	EWB-01 Part B
Intra / Inter State	Registered	Registered	By Road, through a Transporter	Registered	Registered Person who is causing movement	See note 1 below
Intra / Inter State	Registered	Registered	By Road, through a Transporter	Unregistered	Do	Do
Intra / Inter State	Registered	Registered	By Hired or Owned Vehicle or through Public Conveyance	–	Registered Person – who owns the vehicle in case of movement in owned vehicle Or – who has hired the vehicle Or – who is making movement of goods	Same as Part A
Intra / Inter State	Registered	Registered	By Air/Train/ Vessel	–	Registered Person who is making movement	Do
Intra State	Registered	Unregistered	By Road, through a Transporter	Registered	Registered Person	See Note 1 below
Intra State	Registered	Unregistered	By Road, through a Transporter	Unregistered	Do	Do
Intra State	Registered	Unregistered	By Hired/ Owned Vehicle / Public Conveyance	–	Registered Person	Registered Person
Intra State	Registered	Unregistered	By Air/Train/ Vessel	–	Registered Person	Registered Person
Intra / Inter State	Unregistered	Registered	By Road, through a Transporter	Registered	Registered Person See note 2 below	See note 1 below
Intra / Inter State	Unregistered	Registered	By Road, through a Transporter	Unregistered	Do	Do
Intra / Inter State	Unregistered	Registered	Owned/Hired Vehicle / Public Conveyance	–	Do	Do
Intra / Inter State	Unregistered	Registered	By Air/Train/ Vessel	–	Registered Person	Registered Person
Intra State	Unregistered	Unregistered	By Road, through a Transporter	Registered	Optional	Optional
Intra State	Unregistered	Unregistered	By Road, through a Transporter	Unregistered	Optional	Optional
Intra State	Unregistered	Unregistered	Hired/Owned Vehicle / Public Conveyance	–	Optional	Optional
Intra State	Unregistered	Unregistered	Air/Train/Vessel	–	Optional	Optional

Note 1: Filling of Part B is important as without Part B filling EWB no. cannot be generated. First responsibility to fill Part B also lies with the person who has filled Part A. However as provided in sub rule 3, if person filling Part A is not provided with details of vehicle which will finally carry the consignment, he can mention the GSTIN of Registered Transporter or Transporter ID of Unregistered Transporter. In that case transporter has to provide details of vehicle in Part B and finally has to generate EWB no.

Note 2: In case purchase by registered person from unregistered dealer, law is clear and as given in explanation 1 to sub rule 3 it will be treated as if movement is caused by registered person. Therefore all the responsibility with respect to E Way bill will be registered person only.

However where registered person is supplier and unregistered person is recipient and movement is done by road, in each case we have to check who is causing movement of goods. If registered person is making the movement of goods e.g he has hired the transporter or vehicle is his owned, then he has to comply with E Way bill rules but if the case is reverse i.e unregistered person causing movement of goods then it becomes optional to comply as given in second proviso to sub rule 3.

In our opinion in case of registered seller making sale to unregistered buyer it is always prudent to comply with e way rules irrespective who causes movement of goods to avoid litigation and hassle free movement of goods.

Latest Amendment:

Proviso to Sub rule 2 deleted and new sub rule 2A inserted:

“(2A) Where the goods are transported by railways or by air or vessel, the e-way bill shall be generated by the registered person, being the supplier or the recipient, who shall, either before or after the commencement of movement, furnish, on the common portal, the information in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01

Provided that where the goods are transported by railways, the railways shall not deliver the goods unless the e-way bill required under these rules is produced at the time of delivery.”

Analysis:

In case of transport by railway/air/vessel, specific liability now casted on registered person to generate e way bill. Please note that sub rule 2A is not linked with who is causing movement of goods. Even if goods are transported by unregistered person (URP) and other party is registered person (supplier or recipient doesn’t matter) registered person has to generate E Way bill.

It is interesting to note that rule 2A ask for filling to Part B either before or after the commencement of movement of goods. This makes a departure from the general rule of generation of e way bill before movement of goods. In case of movement from air/vessel/rail Part B can be filled after movement commences. This has been done to include a practical issue as in case of such movement common portal ask for transport document no. which is available only after booking of consignment. Therefore generation of E way bill prior to movement was practically not possible hence this amendment.

As per proviso to sub rule 2A, in case of movement by rail goods will not be released by railway unless E Way bill is produced. Such restriction to release goods has not been mentioned for air/vessel.

Important points not to miss:

• However Rule 138(1)(2)(3) cast first liability of E Way Bill on registered person who causes movement (as explained above in table), it may be noted that in case both registered party (supplier and recipient) practically E Way bill can be generated by any one of them.
• Sub rule 2A creates specific liability of registered person to generate e way bill in case goods are transported by railways or by air or vessel
• First Proviso of Rule 138(3) gives an option to Registered Person Or the Transporter to generate the E Way Bill even if value of consignment is < Rs. 50,000
• In case of an Unregistered party (URP) involved in transaction, Second proviso of Rule 138(3) gives option even to unregistered party to generate E Way bill. However currently for registering on E Way Bill portal GSTIN is required. Although there is an option for unregistered Transporters to register with portal by generating Transporter ID with their Valid PAN. In our opinion option for unregisterd person also will be activated soon.
• In case of URP supplier, interstate transaction is not possible as they are not allowed to supply interstate unless specifically allowed under GST Law. Therefore in above table only Intra state is covered.

Special Cases where E Way Bill is mandatory irrespective of Value of consignment:

Third and Forth proviso to Rule 138(1) provides two special cases where E Way Bill generation is mandatory irrespective of value.

• Third Proviso: Interstate movement of goods from Principal to Job Worker
• Fourth Proviso: Interstate movement of Hadicraft Goods by a person who is exempted from requirement of registration under clauses (i) and (ii) of section 24

We shall cover this also through the same matrix as above to maintain the consistency in understanding:

Transaction	Recipient	Supplier	Transportation mode	Transporter	EWB-01 Part A	EWB-01 Part B
Only Inter State	Job Worker	Principal	By Road, through a Transporter	Registered	Principal /Registered Job Worker	As per note 1 above
Only Inter State	Job Worker	Principal	By Road, through a Transporter	Unregistered	DO	DO
Only Inter State	Job Worker	Principal	Hired/ Owned vehicle or Public Conveyance	–	DO	Who fill Part A
Only Inter State	Job Worker	Principal	Air/Train/Vessel/Hired/ Owned	–	DO	Who fill Part A
Only Inter State	–	Handicraft Goods by person exempted u/s 24 from Registration (H)	By Road, through a Transporter	Registered	Supplier	As per note 1 above
Only Inter State	–	Handicraft Goods by person exempted u/s 24 from Registration (H)	By Road, through a Transporter	Unregistered	Supplier	As per note 1 above
Only Inter State	–	Handicraft Goods by person exempted u/s 24 from Registration (H)	Air/Train/Vessel/Hired/ Owned or Public conveyance	–	Supplier	Supplier

Latest Amendment:

First proviso to rule 138(1) has now become third proviso. Earlier in case of inter-state movement from principal to job worker, E way bill to be mandatorily generated by principal. This proviso is now amended to allow registered job workers also to generate e way bill. Now e way bill in such transactions can be generated by Principal (registered or unregistered) or registered Job Worker.

Important points not to miss:

• However respective proviso to Rule 138(1) cast first liability of E Way Bill on Principal / Person exempted from registration, (as explained above in table), it may be noted that in case both registered party practically E Way bill can be generated by any one of them.
• Please note third proviso covers only interstate movement between principal to job worker. Return movement is not covered in first proviso. In our opinion return movement will be covered under main provision of Rule 138(1) as explained in above table. Therefore no E way bill applicable for return movement below consignment value Rs. 50,000
• It is also to be noted both the proviso are for interstate movement only. In our opinion intrastate movement will be covered under main provision of Rule 138(1) as explained in above table. Therefore E-way bill in these cases will not be applicable if consignment value is < Rs. 50,000 and transaction is intrastate
  

Concept of Transporter ID:

Transporters are the main party who retains the main role in this entire show of E-Way Bill. For discharging the liability of E Way Bill a Transporter not required to have a GSTIN. Technically speaking under GST Law all transporters are required to be registered. Those who holds a GSTIN need not do anything they can discharge all their liabilities of E Way Bill by creating login through their GSTIN on E-Way Bill Portal.

However Section 35(2) read with Rule 58 makes it mandatory for all transporters who are not registered under GST to get registered by filing form ENR-01. Output of registering through this ENR-01 is nothing but Transporter ID.

This ID shall be required by every unregistered transporter after implementation of E-Way bill. Therefore practically while furnishing information in Part A of EWB-01 a person if using a transporter will mention the Transporter ID provided by his transporter. After this Transporter may login to E Way bill portal and complete the Part B of form by mentioning the vehicle number in which he is making movement of consignment covered under the form requested. Transporter will finally submit the form and generate the E-way bill number.

Please Note:

• Its only after filling of Part B, E Way bill can be generated
• All transporters having GSTIN are termed as registered transporter. Those who do not have GSTIN and who gets Transporter ID by filing ENR-01 are termed as enrolled transporter

Role of Transporter in E Way Bill

Below is the point wise applicability on transporters:

• Filling of Part B for generation of E Way Bill: Main role of Transporter in generating E Way bill is as explained above. If vehicle number is not known in advance the transporter is required to fill Part B in each case where transporter is used for movement of goods
• Ultimate responsibility of E Way Bill Generation if not generated by anyone in case of inter-state supply: Rule 138(7) cast the ultimate responsibility for E Way Bill generation on Transporter. In case of inter-state supply by road If none of the party as required under provisions of Rule 138(1),(2)and (3) have discharged their responsibility of generating E Way bill, then at last Transporter has to fill Part A and Part B both basis invoice/bill of supply/delivery challan provided to him for transportation by the supplier
• Multiple consignments carried in single vehicle: In case where multiple consignments are intended to be transported in one conveyance, the transporter may indicate the serial number of e-way bills generated in respect of each such consignment electronically on the common portal and a consolidated e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-02 may be generated by him on the common portal prior to the movement of goods
• Change of Vehicle for goods during transit: Rule 138(5) cast another responsibility. If transporter transferring goods from one conveyance to another in the course of transit (due to accident of vehicle or any other reason) shall, before such transfer and further movement of goods, update the details of conveyance in the e-way bill on the common portal in FORM GST EWB-01. However this information can also be updated by person who has filled Part A while generation of E Way Bill
  

Please Note: Sub rule 5 covers the case where only vehicle is changed but transporter remains same. What if a transporter is required to be changed either before or during movement of goods?

• Change of transporter before or during the movement of goods: This is covered through in sub rule 5A. Often a transporter need to be changed at last moment or amongst the transporters assignment of load to another transporter (or sub contracting) is very common. This sub rule can be analysed in two parts –
  

Before updation of Vehicle details in Part B: E Way bill can be assigned to another transporter either by person who furnished Part A or Transporter.

After updation of vehicle details in Part B: This covers another practical situation, a transporter may require to be changed during transit. This can be done however only by transporter whom it was last assigned before updation of vehicle details in Part B.

Latest Amendments:

Redrafting of Sub Rule 7:

“Where the consignor or the consignee has not generated the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01 and the aggregate of the consignment value of goods carried in the conveyance is more than fifty thousand rupees, the transporter, except in case of transportation of goods by railways, air and vessel, shall, in respect of inter-State supply, generate the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01 on the basis of invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be, and may also generate a consolidated e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-02 on the common portal prior to the movement of goods.

Provided that where the goods to be transported are supplied through an e-commerce operator or a courier agency, the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 may be furnished by such e-commerce operator or courier agency.”

Analysis:

The rule has been redrafted to remove some drafting errors and also to accommodate solutions for practical issue of multiple consignment faced by transporter and courier agency. Earlier the rule provided where consignor or the consignee has “not generated form EWB-01”,and ”transporter shall generate form EWB-01”. So now the rule more correctly drafted as now it says “consignor or the consignee has not generated the e-way bill” and “transporter shall generate e-way bill”. Sub rule now asks for generation of complete e way bill and not merely the generation of Form EWB-01 (which can be generated even if Part B not filled).

Moreover now sub rule expressly excludes rail/air and vessel so as to safeguard any responsibility getting casted on Railways/Airway or waterways for E Way bill generation.

Also one practical issue is partially taken care in amendment. In case of multiple parcels with individual parcels < Rs. 50,000 but aggregate value > Rs. 50,000 earlier rule required e-way bill for each parcel. This has now been relaxed in case of intra state movement.

Another change in proviso include courier agency also along with e commerce operator. Since in e commerce and courier agency transactions there are three parties involved “Buyer” “Seller” and “E Commerce company”/”Courier Agency”. An option is given to E Commerce/courier companies as well where they can furnish Part A on behalf of their consignors.

Acceptance or Rejection of E Way Bill:

Sub-rule 11 provide that the details of E-way bill generated shall be made available to the

• supplier, if registered, where the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 has been furnished by the recipient or the transporter; or
• recipient, if registered, where the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 has been furnished by the supplier or the transporter,

Either of the party to whom information is made available as per above sub rule has to communicate his acceptance or rejection within 72 hours of :

• details being made available to him on the common portal, or
• the time of delivery of goods

whichever is earlier

Cancellation of E Way Bill:

Where an e-way bill has been generated, but:

• Goods are either not transported at all or
• Are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill

E-way bill may be cancelled within 24 hours of generation of the E-way bill. However an E-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B.

Validity of E-way Bill:

Validity period for an e-way bill or a consolidated e-way bill shall be based on the distance and type of cargo:

Time Allowed	Normal Cargo	Odd Dimensional Cargo
1 Day	Upto 100 Km	Upto 20 Km
1 additional Day	For every 100 Km or part thereof thereafter	For every 20 Km or part thereof thereafter

Period of validity shall be counted from the date at which the e-way bill has been generated and each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill. E.g.

E Way bill generated on April 1, 2018 for a distance of 520 Km, so First 100 Km = 1 Day and for another 400 Km = 4 Day (1 day each for every additional 100 Km) and for balance 20 Km = 1 Day (100 Km or Part thereof). Total validity period is 6 days. Now 1st day will be counted till the midnight of 2^nd April. Therefore 6 days validity will end on April 07, 2018.

Second Proviso to sub rule 10: In case of circumstances of an exceptional nature including trans shipment, the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may extend validity period of e-way bill after updating the details in Part B of FORM GSTEWB-01.

Latest Amendments:

Amendment in validity time: Amendment made to Solve to another practical difficulty. Odd Dimension Cargo (ODC) because of their size and load bound to move slower. It takes much longer to transport then normal cargo and it is a specialised job too. Considering the same separate time limits -provided for ODC.

Extension of validity period: Earlier rule provided if under circumstances of exceptional nature goods cannot be transported within specified time another e-way bill need to be generated. Now validity of same e-way bill can be extended by filling details of Part B again.

Amendment in Explanation providing definition of Day: Definition of day has been changed from “each day shall be counted as twenty four hours” to “each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill”. In simple words now date of generation of e way bill shall not be counted for validity period. This has been done to make further relax the generation of e way bill irrespective of early in the day or late night so as to avoid extra load on specific hours on portal.

Explanation 2 inserted in Sub rule 10: Another explanation has been inserted to define Odd Dimension Cargo as a single indivisible unit and which exceeds the dimensional limits prescribed in rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.

Concept of Invoice Reference number :

As per Rule 138A (2): “A registered person may obtain an Invoice Reference Number from the common portal by uploading, on the said portal, a tax invoice issued by him in FORM GST INV-1 and produce the same for verification by the proper officer in lieu of the tax invoice and such number shall be valid for a period of thirty days from the date of uploading.”

This is an additional option given to registered person in case of taxable supply where a Tax invoice is issued. Using this option an IRN can be generated by filing form GST INV-1 on portal. However after generating, IRN will be valid for 30 days.

This will facilitate in two ways:

• Information for E Way Bill generation under Part A of form EWB-01 shall be auto populated
• No need to carry physical copy of Tax invoice during transit only IRN will be sufficient

Exemptions from E-Way Bill:

S. No.	Condition	Exemption
1	Goods transported are specified in Annexure	No E Way Bill
2	Goods are transported by a non-motorised conveyance	No E Way Bill
3	Goods transported: FROM – Port, Airport, Aircargo complex and Land Customs Station TO – An Inland Container Depot or a Container Freight Station FOR – clearance by Customs	No E Way Bill
4	Movement of goods within such areas as are notified under clause (d) of sub-rule (14) of rule 138 of the Goods and Services Tax Rules of the concerned State	No E Way Bill
5	All goods other than de-oiled cake as specified in the Schedule appended to notification No. 2/2017- Central tax (Rate) dated the 28th June, 2017 as amended from time to time	No E Way Bill
6	Alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel	No E Way Bill
7	Goods being transported are treated as no supply under Schedule III of the Act	No E Way Bill
8	Goods transported: Under – Customs Bond FROM – Inland Container Depot or a Container Freight Station TO – Customs Port, Airport, Aircargo complex and Land Customs Station OR Under – Customs Bond FROM – One Customs Station or Port TO – Another Customs Station or Port OR Under – Customs supervision or seal	No E Way Bill
9	Goods being transported are transit cargo from or to Nepal or Bhutan
10	Goods being transported are exempt from tax under: Notification No. 7/2017-Central Tax (Rate)– supplies by CSD to Unit Run Canteens and supplies by CSD / Unit Run Canteens to authorised customers notified under section 11 (1) and section 55 CSD, and Notification No. 26/2017 – Central Tax (Rate)– Exempt certain supplies to NPCIL	No E Way Bill
11	Movement of goods caused by defence formation under Ministry of defence as a consignor or consignee	No E Way Bill
12	consignor of goods is the Central Government, Government of any State or a local authority for transport of goods by rail	No E Way Bill
13	Empty cargo containers are being transported	No E Way Bill
14	Goods are being transported upto a distance of twenty kilometres: From– Place of the business of the consignor To– Weighbridge for weighment OR From– Weighbridge To– Place of the business of the said consignor subject to that movement of goods is accompanied by a delivery challan issued in accordance with rule 55 CGST Rules	No E Way Bill
15	Goods transported for distance < 50 KM within State or UT FROM– Place of business of the consignor TO– Place of business of the transporter FOR – Further transportation	Part B of EWB-01 not required to be furnished
16	Goods transported for distance < 50 KM within State or UT finally FROM– Place of business of the transporter TO – Place of business of the consignee	Part B of EWB-01 not required to be furnished

Latest Amendments:

• Addition in exemption list: Point no 8 to 14 has been added in exemption list through latest amendment dated March 07, 2018
• Increase in distance permitted in Point no 15 and 16: For point no 15 and 16 for transportation from place of business of consignor to transporter OR from from transporter to place of business of consignee, permitted distance limit increased from 10 Km to 50 Km.

Summary of all timelines in E Way Bill:

S. No.	Activity	Timeline
1	Furnishing information in EWB – Part A	Before commencement of such movement
2	Furnishing information in EWB – Part B	Before commencement of such movement or within 15 Days of generation of Unique number after filing of Part A
3	When to enter transport document details for rail/air/ship mode of transportation, as it is available only after submitting goods to the concerned authority?	Either before or after the commencement of movement
4	Consolidated e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-02	Before commencement of such movement
5	Cancellation of E Way Bill	Within 24 hours of generation of the eway bill BUT before verification in transit
6	Validity of E Way Bill (Period of validity shall be counted from the day at which the e-way bill has been generated and each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill)	Time Allowed	Normal Cargo	Odd Dimensional Cargo
		1 Day	Upto 100 Km	Upto 20 Km
		1 additional Day	For every 100 Km or part thereof thereafter	For every 20 Km or part thereof thereafter
7	Rejection of E Way Bill by Receipient (No action within timeline will be deemed as acceptence)	Within 72 hours
8	Validity of Invoice Reference Number (IRN) generated through GST INV – 01	30 Days
9	Summary report of every inspection of goods in transit shall be recorded online by the proper officer in Part A of FORM GST EWB-03	Within 24 hours of inspection
10	Final report of every inspection of goods in transit in Part B of FORM GST EWB-03	Within 3 days of such inspection
11	Uploading information regarding detention of vehicle by Transporter in FORM GST EWB-04	Where a vehicle intercepted and detained for a period > 30 minutes

Please also note:

Rule 55 A in Rule 55 CGST Rules: The person-in-charge of the conveyance shall carry a copy of the tax invoice or the bill of supply issued in accordance with the provisions of rules 46, 46A or 49 in a case where such person is not required to carry an e-way bill under these rules.

Notification of E Way bill Portal: Notification No. 9/2018 – Central Tax dated 23rd January, 2018 notifies www.ewaybillgst.gov.in as the Common Goods and Services Tax Electronic Portal for furnishing electronic way bill.

Amendment in Rule 138D: Vide Notification No. 14/2018 – Central Tax and explanation is added to Rule 138D:

“Explanation – For the purposes of this Chapter, the expressions ‘transported by railways’, ‘transportation of goods by railways’, ‘transport of goods by rail’ and ‘movement of goods by rail’ does not include cases where leasing of parcel space by Railways takes place”

“Bill to” “Ship to” transactions: Lot queries were asked on this type of transactions with respect to generation of e way bill. Earlier as per FAQs issued by department there was a specific question dealing this which required two e way bills to be generated if “Bill to” party and “Ship to” party are different legal entity or Same legal entity but in different states.

However now this complexity is also removed as “Bill to” & “Ship to” fields are provided for in EWB-01 on portal.

Penal Provisions:

Below penal provisions may get attracted for not complying with E Way bill rules:

Offence & Penalty:

“Rule 122 (1) Where a taxable person who––

(ii) issues any invoice or bill without supply of goods or services or both in violation of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;

(xiv) transports any taxable goods without the cover of documents as may be specified in this behalf

he shall be liable to pay a penalty of ten thousand rupees or an amount equivalent to the tax evaded, whichever is higher.”

“Rule 122(3) Any person who––

(b) acquires possession of, or in any way concerns himself in transporting, removing, depositing, keeping, concealing, supplying, or purchasing or in any other manner deals with any goods which he knows or has reasons to believe are liable to confiscation under this Act or the rules made thereunder

shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to twenty five thousand rupees”

Detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyances in transit

“Rule 129. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, 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 and after detention or seizure, shall be released,––

(a) on payment of the applicable tax and penalty equal to one hundred per cent of the tax payable on such goods and, in case of exempted goods, on payment of an amount equal to two per cent. of the value of goods or twenty five thousand rupees, whichever is less, where the owner of the goods comes forward for payment of such tax and penalty;

(b) on payment of the applicable tax and penalty equal to the fifty per cent. of the value of the goods reduced by the tax amount paid thereon and, in case of exempted goods, on payment of an amount equal to five per cent. of the value of goods or twenty five thousand rupees, whichever is less, where the owner of the goods does not come forward for payment of such tax and penalty;

(c) upon furnishing a security equivalent to the amount payable under clause (a) or clause (b) in such form and manner as may be prescribed”

“Rule 122(6) Where the person transporting any goods or the owner of the goods fails to pay the amount of tax and penalty as provided in sub-section (1) within seven days of such detention or seizure, further proceedings shall be initiated in accordance with the provisions of section 130

Provided that where the detained or seized goods are perishable or hazardous in nature or are likely to depreciate in value with passage of time, the said period of seven days may be reduced by the proper officer”

Confiscation of goods or conveyances and levy of penalty

130. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, if any person—

(i) supplies or receives any goods in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of tax; or

(v) uses any conveyance as a means of transport for carriage of goods in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder unless the owner of the conveyance proves that it was so used without the knowledge or connivance of the owner himself, his agent, if any, and the person in charge of the conveyance,then, all such goods or conveyances shall be liable to confiscation and the person shall be liable to penalty under section 122

(5) Where any goods or conveyance are confiscated under this Act, the title of such goods or conveyance shall thereupon vest in the Government.

(6) The proper officer adjudging confiscation shall take and hold possession of the things confiscated and every officer of Police, on the requisition of such proper officer, shall assist him in taking and holding such possession.

(7) The proper officer may, after satisfying himself that the confiscated goods or conveyance are not required in any other proceedings under this Act and after giving reasonable time not exceeding three months to pay fine in lieu of confiscation, dispose of such goods or conveyance and deposit the sale proceeds thereof with the Government

Few Important and Must Read FAQs issued by department:

Can I use the different modes of transportation to carry the goods having the e-way bill? If so, how to update the details?

Yes. One can transport the goods through different modes of transportation – Road, Rail, Air, Ship. However, always e-way bill needs to be updated with the latest mode of transportation or conveyance number accordingly. That is, at any point of time, the details of conveyance specified in the e-way bill on the portal should match with the details of conveyance through which goods are actually being transported.

How does the taxpayer generate e-way bill with Part-A and move the goods himself later?

The taxpayer can generate EWB with or without Part-B. Sometimes, the tax payer wants to move the goods himself but wants to update the Part-B later as vehicle number is not available at that point of time. E-way bill expects the user to enter transporter ID or vehicle number. So as he wants to move the goods himself, he can enter his GSTIN as transporter Id and generate EWB. This indicates to the system that he is a transporter for that EWB.

How to enter multiple modes of transportation, i.e., road, rail, ship, air for the same e-way bill?

One e-way bill can go through multiple modes of transportation before reaching the destination. As per the mode of transportation, the EWB can be updated with new mode of transportation by using ‘Update Vehicle Number’.

Let us assume the goods are moving from Cochin to Chandigarh through road, ship, air and road again. First, the tax payer generates the EWB by entering first stage of movement (by road) from his place to ship yard and enters the vehicle number. Next, he will submit the goods to ship yard and update the mode of transportation as Ship and transport document number on the e-way bill system. Next, after reaching Mumbai, the taxpayer or concerned transporter updates movement as road from ship to airport with vehicle number. Next the tax payer or transporter updates, using ‘update vehicle number’ option, the Airway Bill number. Again after reaching Delhi, he updates movement through road with vehicle number. This way, the e-way bill will be updated with multiple mode of transportation.

How does transporter come to know that particular e-way bill is assigned to him?

The transporter comes to know the EWBs assigned to him by the taxpayers for transportation, in one of the following ways:

• The transporter can go to reports section and select ‘EWB assigned to me for trans’ and see the list.
• The transporter can go to ‘Update Vehicle No’ and select ‘Generator GSTIN’ option and enter taxpayer GSTIN, who has assigned or likely to assign the EWBs to him.
• The tax payer can contact and inform the transporter that the particular EWB is assigned to him.

What has to be done, if the validity of the e-way bill expires?

If validity of the e-way bill expires, the goods are not supposed to be moved. However, under circumstance of ‘exceptional nature’, it can be extended by the Commissioner of the state. The procedure for the same will be notified later.

How to generate e-way bill, if the goods of one invoice is being moved in multiple vehicles simultaneously?

Where the goods are being transported in a semi knocked down or completely knocked down condition the EWB shall be generated for each of such vehicles based on the delivery challans issued for that portion of the consignment and;

• The supplier shall issue the complete invoice before dispatch of the first consignment;
• The supplier shall issue a delivery challan for each of the subsequent consignments, giving reference of the invoice;
• Each consignment shall be accompanied by copies of the corresponding delivery challan along with a duly certified copy of the invoice; and
• The original copy of the invoice shall be sent along with the last consignment Please note that multiple EWBs have to generate under this circumstance. That is, the EWB has to be generated for each consignment based on the delivery challan details along with the corresponding vehicle number.

How does the tax payer update his latest business name, address, mobile number or e-mail id in the e-way bill system?

EWB System in dependent on GST Common portal for tax payers registration details like legal name/trade name, business addresses, mobile number and e-mail id. EWB System will not allow tax payer to update these details directly. If tax payer changes these details at GST Common portal, it will be updated in EWB system within a day. Otherwise, the tax payer can update the same by selecting the option ‘Update My GSTIN’.

Features of the E-Way Bill Portal (Source- CBEC)

Disclaimer

The above write up has been compiled from various provisions of GST Act and notifications/circular/order issued there under. The compilation may not be entirely correct for reader to reader due to different interpretations by different readers. The readers are advised to take into the consideration the prevailing legal position before acting on any of the comments in this write up. Readers are also requested to convey the correct position as per their interpretation of the relevant provisions of law, which shall be most welcome for correcting this write up.

(Author can be reached on ca.praveengupta2007 @ gmail.com)

(Republished with Amendments)

Check Out Eway Bill Rules Under GST Here

GST e-Way Bill generation- Things you must know