A Complete Guide to E-Way Bill (as Amended after 25th GST Council Meeting):
The E-Way Bill System which is set to be implemented nationwide with effect from 01st Feb 2018, requires furnishing of information relating to any goods worth more than Rs. 50,000 whether they intend to move within the state or Inter-state. Tax officials would be empowered to inspect the e-way bill any time during the journey to check for tax evasion. The facility to use the E-way bill on trial basis has already been granted to the transporters and business houses.
Through Notification No. 9/2018- Central Tax dated 23.01.2018, the Central Government has notified www.ewaybillgst.gov.in as the Common Goods and Services Tax Electronic Portal for furnishing electronic way bill.
Through the Notification No. 27/2017- Central Tax dated 30.08.2017, the provisions related to E-way bill has been introduced under Rule 138 to Rule 138D in Central GST Rules, 2017 along with formats of relevant forms.
GST Council in its 25th meeting held on 18.01.2018 in New Delhi reiterated the applicability of E-bill for Inter-State movement of goods with effect from 1st Feb 2018 giving options to states to get it applicable for Intra-State movement of goods on or before 1st June, 2018.
The Council also recommended several changes in the rules related to E-way bills which were recently been notified by the Central Government vide Notification No. 3/2018- Central Tax dated 23.01.2018.
Here incorporating all the relevant amendments introduced as on 23.01.2018, an attempt has been made to analyze the updated E-way bill rules, which is summarized in upcoming 20 paragraphs:
1. Furnishing of Information (in Part-A of Form GST EWB-01) prior to Commencement of movement of Goods:
As per Rule 138(1) of CGST Rules, 2017, “Every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees—
- in relation to a supply; or
- for reasons other than supply; or
- due to inward supply from an unregistered person,
shall, before commencement of such movement, furnish information relating to the said goods as specified 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.”
Consignment Value defined:
As per the Explanation 2 to Rule 138(1), 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.
Compulsory Generation of E-way Bill irrespective of Value of Consignment:
- where goods are sent by a principal located in one State to a job worker located in any other State, the e-way bill shall be generated by the principal irrespective of the value of the consignment
- where handicraft goods are transported from one State to another by a person who has been exempted from the requirement of obtaining registration under clauses (i) and (ii) of section 24, the e-way bill shall be generated by the said person irrespective of the value of the consignment
Furnishing of Information in Part A of Form GST EWB-01 by E-Commerce Operator:
Where the goods to be transported are supplied through an E-commerce operator, the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 may be furnished by such E-commerce operator.
2. Generation of Unique Number upon furnishing of Information in Part A of Form GST EWB-01 and Validity thereof:
Upon furnishing of requisite information in Part A of Form GST EWB-01, a Unique Number will be generated on the portal.
The Unique Number so generated shall be valid for 72 hours for updation of Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
3. Information to be furnished in Part-A of Form GST EWB-01:
| Part-A | Remark | |
| A.1 | GSTIN of Supplier | In case of Unregistered Supplier, mention “URP” |
| A.2 | GSTIN of Recipient | In case of Unregistered Recipient, mention “URP” |
| A.3 | Place of Delivery | PIN Code of Place of Delivery needs to be given |
| A.4 | Document Number | It may be Tax Invoice, Bill of Supply, Delivery Challan or Bill of Entry |
| A.5 | Document Date | |
| A.6 | Value of Goods | |
| A.7 | HSN Code | For Taxpayer with Annual Turnover up to 5Cr: Min. 2 Digit
For Taxpayer with Annual Turnover exceeding 5Cr: Min. 4 Digit |
| A.8 | Reason for Transportation | It can be Supply/ Export/ Import/ Jobwork/ Sales Return/ Exhibition or fairs etc. |
4. Generation of E-Way Bill in case of Transportation of Goods by road:
Generation of E-way bill by the supplier or recipient of goods:
Where the goods are transported by the registered person as a consignor or the recipient of supply as the consignee, whether in his own conveyance or a hired one, the said person or the recipient may generate the e-way bill after furnishing information in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01
Generation of E-way Bill by the Transporter:
Where the e-way bill is not generated as aforesaid and the goods are handed over to a transporter for transportation by road, the registered person shall furnish the information relating to the transporter on the common portal and the e-way bill shall be generated by the transporter on the said portal on the basis of the information furnished by the registered person in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01.
E-way bill not valid for movement of goods by road if information in part B not furnished:
The e-way bill shall not be valid for movement of goods by road unless the information in Part-B of FORM GST EWB-01 has been furnished except in following two cases:
- where the goods are transported for a distance of less than ten kilometers within the State or Union territory from the place of business of the consignor to the place of business of the transporter for further transportation
- where the goods are transported for a distance of less than ten kilometers within the State or Union territory from the place of business of the transporter finally to the place of business of the consignee
Thus in cases covered in aforesaid two clauses, the details of conveyance may not be furnished or updated in the e-way bill.
5. Generation of E-Way Bill in case of Transportation of Goods by railways or by air or by vessel:
E-way bill shall be generated by the registered person, being the supplier or the recipient who shall furnish:
1. Information in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01; and
2. the serial number and date of the Railway Receipt or the Air Consignment Note or Bill of Lading, as the case may be.
6. Information to be furnished in Part-B of Form GST EWB-01:
| Part-B | Remark | |
| B.1 | Vehicle Number | Registration Number of Vehicle needs to be furnished. |
| B.2 | Transport Document Number | It indicates Goods Receipt Number or Railway Receipt Number or Airway Bill Number or Bill of Lading Number |
7. Option to Generate and Carry the E-Way bill even if Value of Consignment is less than Rs. 50,000:
The registered person or transporter may at his option, generate and carry the e-way bill even if the value of consignment is less than Rs. 50,000.
8. Facility to transfer the goods from one conveyance to another in the course of transit:
Details of Conveyance need to be updated in the E-way bill electronically:
Rule 138(5) provides the facility to transfer the goods from one conveyance to another with the condition that before such transfer and further movement of goods, the Consigner or the recipient or the transporter shall update the details of conveyance in the e-way bill through FORM GST EWB-01.
No need to update the details of Conveyance:
However where the goods are transported for a distance of less than ten kilometres within the State or Union territory from the place of business of the transporter finally to the place of business of the consignee, the details of conveyance may not be updated in the e-way bill.
9. Facility to assign the E-way bill number to another registered or enrolled transporter for updating the information in Part-B of FORM GST EWB-01 for further movement of consignment:
The consignor or the recipient, who has furnished the information in Part-A of FORM GST EWB-01, or the transporter, may assign the e-way bill number to another registered or enrolled transporter for updating the information in Part-B of FORM GST EWB-01 for further movement of consignment.
However where the details of the conveyance have been updated by the transporter in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01, the consignor or recipient, as the case maybe, who has furnished the information in Part-A of FORM GST EWB-01 shall not be allowed to assign the e-way bill number to another transporter.
10. Generation of Consolidated E-way bill by the transporter (Optional):
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 said common portal prior to the movement of goods.
11. Compulsory generation of E-way bill by the transporter if multiple consignment are being transported, and the aggregate value of all such consignments exceeds Rs. 50,000:
There may be the possibility that individual consignment made by a supplier is of value less than Rs. 50,000 thereby he is not required to furnish information in Part A of Form GST EWB-01, but if the value of all goods carried in the conveyance is more than Rs. 50,000 then the transporter shall generate FORM GST EWB-01 on the basis of Invoices/ Bill of Supply/ Delivery challan prior to movement of goods.
Thus in this case, both Part-A and Part-B of the form will required to be furnished by the transporter. Thereafter the transporter may also generate a consolidated e-way bill in Form GST EWB-02.
12. Cancellation of E-Way bill:
In case e-way bill has been generated but goods are either not transported or not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill may be cancelled within 24 hours of its generation.
However such e-way bill can-not be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with Rule 138B of CGST Rules, 2017.
13. Validity of E-Way bill:
The e-way bill/ consolidated e-way bill will remain valid for the period as mentioned in following table from the time of generation of e-way bill:
| Sr. No. | Distance (The goods need to be transported) | Validity Period (to be counted from the time of generation of e-way bill) |
| 1. | Upto 100 km | 1 Day |
| 2. | For every 100 km or part thereof thereafter | 1 additional day |
Extension of Validity period of E-way bill for certain categories of goods:
The Commissioner may, by notification, extend the validity period of e-way bill for certain categories of goods as may be specified therein.
Generation of another e-way bill after updating the details in Part B of Form GST EWB-01:
Where under circumstances of an exceptional nature, the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may generate another e-way bill after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
14. Exemption from requirement to Generate E-way Bill:
No e-way bill is required to be generated—
1. where the goods being transported are specified in Annexure to Rule-138;
2. where the goods are being transported by a non-motorised conveyance;
3. where the goods are being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs
4. in respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under Rule 138(14)(d) of the Goods and Services Tax Rules of the concerned State;
5. where the goods, other than de-oiled cake, being transported are specified in the Schedule appended to notification No. 2/2017- Central tax (Rate) dated the 28th June, 2017
6. where the goods being transported are alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel; and
7. where the goods being transported are treated as no supply under Schedule III of the Act
15. Facility of Generation and Cancellation of E-way bill through SMS:
The facility of generation and cancellation of e-way bill may also be made available through SMS
16. Documents and devices to be carried by a person-in-charge of a conveyance:
The person in charge of a conveyance shall carry-
1. the invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be; and
2. a copy of the e-way bill or the e-way bill number, either physically or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device embedded on to the conveyance.
Generation of Invoice Reference Number:
A registered person may obtain an Invoice Reference Number by uploading on the common portal, a tax invoice issued by him in FORM GST INV-1
In that case he may produce the Invoice reference number for verification by the proper officer in lieu of the tax invoice and such number shall be valid for a period of 30 days from the date of uploading.
Further in that case, the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 will be auto-populated by the common portal on the basis of the information furnished in FORM GST INV-1.
17. Verification of documents and conveyances:
The Commissioner or an officer empowered by him in this behalf may authorise the proper officer to intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill or the e-way bill number in physical form for all interstate and intra-State movement of goods.
The physical verification of conveyances shall be carried out by the proper officer as authorised by the Commissioner or an officer empowered by him in this behalf.
However on receipt of specific information on evasion of tax, physical verification of a specific conveyance can also be carried out by any other officer after obtaining necessary approval of the Commissioner or an officer authorised by him in this behalf.
18. Inspection and verification of goods:
Recording of Summary Report:
A 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.
Recording of Final Report:
Final report in Part B of FORM GST EWB-03 shall be recorded within 3 days of such inspection.
19. Relief from multiple Physical Verification of goods being transported:
Where the physical verification of goods being transported on any conveyance has been done during transit at one place within the State or in any other State, no further physical verification of the said conveyance shall be carried out again in the State, unless a specific information relating to evasion of tax is made available subsequently
20. Facility for uploading information regarding detention of vehicle exceeding 30 minutes:
Where a vehicle has been intercepted and detained for a period exceeding 30 minutes, the transporter may upload the said information in FORM GST EWB-04 on the common portal.
(Disclaimer: This write up is based on the understanding and interpretation of author and the same is not intended to be a professional advice.)
[The author is a Chartered Accountant and can also be reached at goyalcanitin@gmail.com]
Author Bio
very good article in E-WAY BILL SYSTEM