Article contains provision about validity period of e-way bill under CGST Act, 2017 and judgements of various high courts given on expired e-way bill.
The e-way bill document shall be generated subject to exceptional provisions if the goods value exceeding Rs.50000.00 are to be moved from one state to other state or union territory in relation to a supply; or for reasons other than supply; or due to inward supply from an unregistered person.
The e-way bill shall be valid for the period as mentioned in sub-rule 10 of rule 138 of the CGST Rules. The following table has been provided under the said rule to state the validity period with detailed explanations.
Page Contents
Validity period of E-Way BIll
| Sl. No. | Distance | Validity period |
| (1) | (2) | (3) |
| 1. | Upto 200 km. | One day in cases other than Over Dimensional Cargo or multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involves transport by ship |
| 2. | For every 200 km. or part thereof thereafter | One additional day in cases other than Over Dimensional Cargo 7 or multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involves transport by ship |
| 3. | Upto 20 km | One day in case of Over Dimensional Cargo 7or multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involves transport by ship |
| 4. | For every 20 km. or part thereof thereafter | One additional day in case of Over Dimensional Cargo or multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involves transport by ship |
Provisions for extending the Validity Period of E-Way Bill
1. The GST Council may extend validity period for certain categories of goods.
2. Where, under 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 the validity period after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
3. The validity of the e-way bill may be extended within eight hours from the time of its expiry.
Calculation of each day for Validity Period of E-Way Bill
Each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill.
Consequences if vehicle supplying the goods not reached within validity period of E-Way Bill
There is no specific provision so for that what action is to be taken under the GST law if the vehicle is not reached to the destination within valid period. Generally, the GST Authorities, in such cases where valid period of e-way bill had expired, take action under section 129 of the CGST Act. They pass the order of detention and penalize accordingly. But in number of cases the High Courts allow writ and set aside/quashed the orders which were passed casually and without making the case of evasion of tax or abetment of evasion.
High Court Cases on Expired E-Way Bill under GST
E-way bill expired by 41 minutes – Citation – 2023-VIL-72-CAL – KARAN SINGH Vs STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS. – Date of Order – 31-01-2023 – The Hon’ble court set aside the detention order on the ground that the adjudicating authority failed to communicate to the transporter about his right to extend the period.
No ill intent on the part of the petitioner – Citation – 2023-VIL-66-GUJ – ORSON HOLDINGS COMPANY LIMITED & 1 OTHERS Vs UNION OF INDIA & 2 OTHERS -Date of Order – 18-01-2023 – The Hon’ble Court quashed and set aside the order of detention and notice issued on the grounds that there does not appear to be any ill-intent on the part of the petitioner to use the expired e-Way bill. It appeared to be bona fide and without establishing any fraudulent intention.
Absent evasion, there can be no revenue loss – Citation – 2022-VIL-825-MAD – TVL. THIRUVANNAMALAIYAR TRANSPORT Vs THE DEPUTY STATE TAX OFFICER – Date of Order – 13-12-2022 – The Hon’ble Court held that the expiry of E-way bill does not create any scope for evasion. Absent evasion, there can be no revenue loss. Order passed on the basis of example given in para 10 of the circular No.10/2019, Q1/17253/2019 dated 31-05-2019.
Example 2: A conveyance carrying the goods from a factory of fertilizers is delivering the same at various locations as directed by the department of Agriculture. The goods are accompanied by invoice or invoice with delivery challan and E-way bill. The E-way bill has expired due to delay in making delivery at various locations. The expiry of E-way bill does not create any scope for evasion. In cases as in the examples, penalty of upto Rs.5000/- per Act shall be levied.
No fraudulent intent or negligence on the part of the petitioner – Citation – 2022-VIL-813-GUJ – SHREE GOVIND ALLOYS PVT LTD Vs STATE OF GUJARAT – Date of Order – 01-12-2022 – The only ground to quash the orders is that the respondent could not establish any element of evasion of tax with fraudulent intent or negligence on the part of the petitioner.
Time period of e-way bill was short due to wrong mentioned pin code – M/s SHANU EVENTS Vs STATE OF U P – Date of Order – 05-08-2022 – WRIT TAX No. 258 of 2022 – The pin code was inadvertently stated of the state of the supplier in place of state of the recipient. Therefore, validity period on the e-way bill was mentioned for one day only. Held – The mistake was inadvertent and bona fide as sometime occurs. In absence of any allegation or material found of ill-intent on part of the assessee to transport the goods for the purposes of sale, the imposition of tax and demand of penalty is wholly unfounded.
No case of deliberate and willful attempt on the part of the writ petitioner to evade payment of tax – M/s HANUMAN GANGA HYDROPROJECTS PRIVATE LIMITED Vs JOINT COMMISSIONER – Date of Order – 06-07-2022 – WPA 1480 of 2022 – Held – In order to justify invocation of the power to impose penalty in terms of the said Act, it is necessary that such authority arrives at a definite finding that there was a deliberate and willful attempt on the part of the assessee to evade tax or there is lack of bona fide.
Penalty imposed without due consideration of the plea raised by the petitioner and without proper application of mind – RIVIGO SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED Vs THE STATE OF JHARKHAND – Date of Order – 13-06-2022 – W.P.(T) No. 4654 of 2019 – The case of the petitioner is that the vehicle reached ITC Limited warehouse at Jamshedpur within the validity period of E-Way bill but due to temporary shortage of space the vehicle could not be unloaded. The impugned consignment was taken back to warehouse of the petitioner /transporter. Later on, upon availability of space at the ITC warehouse the driver was informed to park the vehicle – while vehicle was in transit from transporter’s facility to the warehouse of ITC Limited, it was intercepted and detained on the allegation that E-way bill has expired.
The petitioner has referred to GPS tracking report for the vehicle. These tracking reports confirm the plea raised by the petitioner that the consignment had reached ITC warehouse at Asanbani, Jamshedpur before expiry of e-way bill and on account of paucity of space for the next seven days, it was standing at one location i.e., the warehouse of the petitioner /transporter at Bhilaipahari. This fact has not been verified by the State Tax Officer or by the Appellate Authority, which has vitiated the impugned orders on facts.
The impugned action has entailed penalty without due consideration of the plea raised by the petitioner and without proper application of mind. As such, both the orders passed by the State Tax Officer and the appellate order are set aside.
Goods reached at destination in-time but goods unloaded after expiry of the E-Way Bill – Citation – 2021-VIL-758-KAR – State Vs M/s HEMANTH MOTORS – Date of Order – 27-07-2021 – Held – On the plea of the GST Authority that the consignment was being delivered on next day and therefore, the goods cannot be transported within valid e-way bill the court held that the action by the authorities was taken at the destination and not during transit and therefore, as inference has to be drawn that the conveyance had reached the destination well within the subsistence of the valid period stipulated under the E-way bill.
Conclusion
Thus, mere expiry of e-way bill can not become the ground of taking action under the law until and unless there is case of evasion of tax, case of ill intent of the supplier and case of non-bona fide etc.
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Author Bio
Sir
Pls be noted, our EWAY bill was expired, Now system shows, can’t able to cancel. How can account the EWAY bill and JOB WORK Delivery challans for the cancelled EWAY bill materials.