E-way Bill is a document to be generated electronically before the movement of goods both for Intra State (within State) and inter-state (from one state to another) supply having value more than Rs. 50,000/-. The purpose of the e-way bill is to eradicate the tax evasion and to ensure the ease of doing business by avoiding the wastage of time at the check posts.
The e-way bill was earlier rolled out on 16th January, 2018 on trial basis and mandatorily implemented from 1st February, 2018 for inter-state. However due to technical glitches resulting in the disruption of trade, the same was deferred.
Now the generation of e-way has been mandatory with effect from:
| Movement of Goods | Applicability |
| Inter-state movement of goods | 1st April, 2018 |
| Intra-state movement of goods | From 15th April, 2018, E- way bill to be kicked off in 4 phases covering no of states in each phase as as to apply uniformly w.e.f 1st June, 2018 |
E-way bill has to be generated by the following persons:
Registered Persons: when there is movement of goods of more than Rs. 50000 by registered person, the registered person shall generate e-way bill. In case the e-way bill is not generated by registered person, it is to be generated by transporter.
Unregistered Persons: E-way bill is required to be generated by unregistered persons as well. However, where a supply is made by an unregistered person to a registered person, the responsibility lies with the recipient to ensure that the e-way bill has been generated.
Transporters: If the e-way bill has not been generated by registered person, transporters shall generate e-way bill.
Before the movement of goods, every registered person (also in case the supply is made by unregistered person to registered person) has to feed the details in Part A. The movement may relate to the followings:
> In relation to supply (Sales)
> For other than supply ( Branch transfer, sales return
> Due to inward supply from unregistered person
It is to be noted that Part A shall be filled by the person who is causing movement of goods of consignment value exceeding Rs.50,000/- and part B (transport details) to be filled by the person who is transporting the goods. Where the goods are transported by a registered person whether as consignor or recipient, such person will generate the e-way bill by furnishing information in part B on the GST common portal. If the e- way bill is not generated by such person and the goods are handed over to transporter, he will furnish the information relating to the transporter in Part B of Form EWB-01 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 registered person in Part- A. If a transporter transports multiple consignments in a single vehicle, it has to use the form GST EWB-02 to produce a consolidated e-way bill, by providing the e-way bill numbers of each consignment.
E-way bill is valid as follows:
| Distance | Validity |
| Less than 100 KM | 1 day |
| For every 100 KM or part thereof | Additional 1 day |
| For 1000 KM or more | 15 days |
E-way bill No (EBN) generated is available to the supplier, recipient and transporter. E-way bill can be cancelled by within 24 hours by the supplier. E-way bill upon generation shall be communicated to recipient for his acceptance. If the same is not accepted within 72 hours, the same shall be deemed to be accepted by the recipient.
It will be challenging for the government to maintain its website properly so that technical glitches occur to the minimum.
(The author can be reached at balwinder.rnj@rediffmail.com)
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