Procedures and Intricacies of E-Way Bill – How, When and Who to generate

E-way bill provision of GST, first introduced on 1 February 2018 was initially made mandatory for inter-state transportation of goods, having consignment value of more than Rs. 50,000 through road, railways, airways and vessels. However, after the e-way bill portal crashed on the very first day due to technical glitches, the government extended the deadline and asked GSTN to develop a fool-proof system before the re-launch of the bill.

Thereafter, the Central Government has substituted Rule 138 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (“CGST Rules”) vide Notification No. 12/2018- Central Tax, dated March 7, 2018 and notified April 01, 2018 as the date from which E-way bill Rules shall come into force for all inter-state movement of goods, having consignment value more than Rs. 50,000 vide Notification No 15/2018–Central Tax dated March 23, 2018. Further, E-way bill will also be made applicable in phased manner for intra-state movement of goods by June 1, 2018 and would be notified accordingly by respective states.

The Finance Secretary Mr. Hasmukh Adhia said that the GST Network, is much better prepared to roll out the new system from 1 April, 2018“…But I’m not too sure whether traders, dealers and transporters are still ready. I would like to appeal to them to register themselves on the e-way bill portal …as early as possible; they should not then tell us that we didn’t inform them,” Mr. Adhia said.

Hence, it is important for the Trade to understand all important aspects of E-way Bills, summarised hereunder for easy digest:

1. First step to take registration for generation of E-way bill:

• Visit the E-way bill portal ewaygst.gov.in.
• Click on “‘E-Way Bill Registration” available on the right-hand side of the webpage.
• Enter the GSTIN of the Registered Taxpayer as the Consignor or the Consignee and then enter the Captcha Code, then Click on “Go” tab, then, Click on Send OTP and verify the same, after checking the auto-filled details.
• Enter the OTP received on the registered mobile number and verify the same by clicking on the “verify OTP’ button”.
• Create a “New User id and password” by your own choice. The system validates and pops up a message if there is an error in the details entered by you. Once all the details are correctly filled, User ID and password will be created.

*Note: Tips for creating Username & Password: 

The username should be of at least 8 characters with a combination of alphabets (A-Z/a-z), numerals (0-9) and special characters (@, #, $, %, &, *, ^) and can’t exceed more than 15 characters.

The password should be of at least 8 characters.

2. When to generate E-way bill:

Every registered person either consignor or consignee, who is causing the movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees—

• in relation to a supply (e.g. Sale, Purchase, etc.); or
• for reasons other than supply (e.g. Job Work, goods sent on approval basis, exhibition purpose, demo, SKD/CKD, etc); or
• due to inward supply from an unregistered person

shall electronically fill the details in Part-A of Form GST EWB-01 before commencement of movement of goods and a unique number shall be generated on the said portal.

Further, a transporter may be authorised by consignor or consignee to furnish part-A of EWB-01.

However, when goods are transported through e-commerce operator or a courier agency, then, the e-commerce operator or a courier agency may, on an authorization received from the consignor, furnish Part-A of EWB-01 and generate a unique number.

Meaning of Consignment value:

Consignment Value = Value determined under Section 15 of the CGST Act and it will be inclusive of CGST, SGST, UTGST, IGST and cess charged, if any but exclusive of value of exempted goods where the invoice is issued in respect of both exempted and taxable supply of goods.

Compulsory generation of E-way bill irrespective of any consignment value:

Where goods are sent by a principal located in one State or Union territory to a job worker located in any other State or Union territory, the e-way bill shall be generated either by the principal or the job worker, if registered, irrespective of the value of the consignment.

A person who has been exempted from registration under clauses (i) and (ii) of Section 24 and making inter-state movement of handicraft goods shall generate E-way bill irrespective of the value of the consignment.

Meaning of Person causing the movement:

Broadly, the movement of goods may either be caused by registered consignor (supplier) or registered consignee (recipient) or where the goods are supplied by unregistered person as consignor to a registered recipient, then, such consignee shall be treated as the person causing the movement of goods.

3. Who can generate E-way Bill:

E-way bill shall be generated by registered person either consignor or consignee, causing the movement of goods after furnishing information in Part-B of Form EWB-01.

Where E-way bill is not generated by the registered person and 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 transporter shall generate E-way billon the basis of information furnished by the registered person in Part-A of Form EWB-01.

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 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.

Time Validity for filling up Part B of Form EWB 01:

Details in Part B shall be furnished within15 days of furnishing details in Part A, because unique number generated after furnishing details in Part A shall become invalid after 15 days.

Generation of E-way bill – Optional:

In certain cases, E-way bill may be generated at the option of consignor or consignee or transporter and these situations should be either of the following:

• Where consignment value is less than fifty thousand rupees; or
• Where movement of goods is taking place between unregistered supplier and unregistered recipient;

Consolidated E-way bill:

A transporter may, at his option, generate a consolidated E-way bill in Form EWB-02 by indicating serial number of all the e-way bills generated, where multiple consignments are intended to be transported in one conveyance.

4. Details to be filled in Part A & Part B of Form EWB 01:

Following data are to be furnished in Part A which may be used for furnishing details in Form GSTR-1:

• GSTIN of Recipient
• Place of Delivery
• Invoice/ Bill of Supply/ Delivery challan/ Bill of Entry – Document Number
• Document Date
• Description & classification of Goods
• HSN Code
• Value of Goods
• Taxes, as applicable
• Reason of Transportation

Following data to be furnished in Part-B of Form EWB 01:

• Vehicle Number for Road
• Transport Document Number/Defence Vehicle No./ Temporary vehicle Registration No./ Nepal or Bhutan vehicle registration No.

5. Validity period of E-way bill:

*“Over Dimensional Cargo” shall mean a cargo carried as a single indivisible unit and which exceeds the dimensional limits prescribed in Rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, made under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988).

Validity period of one day shall be counted as:

• 1^st day: Mid-night of the date following the date on which E-way bill is generated.
• All subsequent day: Mid night of the date.

However, this period of one day may be extended by the commissioner for certain categories of goods which may be notified on recommendation of GST Council.

Extension of Time Validity of E-way bill:

Provided further that, 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, if required.

6. Acceptance / Rejection of E-way bill:

The details of e-way bill generated shall be made available to-

(a) supplier, if registered, where the information in Part-A of Form EWB-01 has been furnished by the recipient or the transporter; or

(b) recipient, if registered, where the information in Part-A of Form EWB-01 has been furnished by the supplier or the transporter,

on the common portal, and the supplier or the recipient, as the case maybe, shall communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment within 72 hours of the details being made available or before the time of delivery of goods whichever is earlier, else acceptance shall be deemed to be made.

The E-way bill generated under Rule 138 of CGST Rules, 2017 or under SGST Rules, 2017 of any state shall be valid in every State and Union territory.

7. Cancellation of E-way Bill:

Where after generation of E-way bill, goods are either not transported or not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill can be cancelled electronically on the common portal within 24 hours of generation of the e-way bill, except where it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of Rule 138B.

8. Details of conveyance in Part B: When not to be furnished/updated

• Where the goods are transported for a distance of upto fifty 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, goods are transferred from one conveyance to another, and goods are transported for a distance of upto fifty 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 the conveyance may not be updated in the e-way bill.

9. E- Way Bill – When not required:

Certain categories of movements where E-waybill shall not be required to be generated and carried are as under:

• 8 Notified goods in Annexure to Rule 138 including LPG, postal baggage, jewellery, currency, used personal and household effects, etc.
• Where goods are transported in non-motorised conveyance
• From Port/ Airport/ Air cargo complex/ Land customs station to ICD/Container Freight station (for clearance by Customs)
• From ICD/container freight station to port/ airport/ air cargo complex/ and customs station under custom bond, or from one customs station or customs port to another customs station or customs port, or movement anywhere in India under customs supervision or under customs seal
• Specific areas to be notified
• Exempted goods other than de-oiled cake
• Alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit, natural gas or aviation turbine fuel
• Movement of goods from or to Nepal and Bhutan
• Supply of goods falling under Schedule III
• Intra-state movement of goods from Canteen Store Department (CSD) to unit run canteen and authorized customers, and from unit run canteen to authorized customers.
• Intra-state movement of heavy water and nuclear fuels, as mentioned in Notification No. 26/2017 dated September 21, 2017 by the Department of Atomic Energy to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd
• Movement of goods caused by defence formation under Ministry of defence as a consignor or consignee;
• where the consignor of goods is the Central Government, Government of any State or a local authority for transport of goods by rail;
• where empty cargo containers are being transported;
• Movement of goods from place of business of consignor to weighbridge and vice-versa, where the distance is upto twenty kilometres, however goods in this case must be accompanied by a delivery challan.

10. Other important provisions pertaining to E-way bill:

A. Shifting of goods from one conveyance to another

Where the goods are transferred from one conveyance to another, the consigner or the recipient, who has provided information in Part A of the FORM GST EWB-01, or the transporter 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:

Provided that where the goods are transported for a distance of less than fifty kilometers 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.

B. Assignment of E-way Bill:

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:

Provided that once 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.

C. Bill-to ship-to transactions:

Earlier a FAQ was issued by department and it was opined that generation of two E-way Bills will be required if “Bill to” and “Ship to” parties are two different persons in GST.

However, now this complexity will be handled through the capturing of place of dispatch in Part A of E-way Bill.

D. Specific Provision pertaining to E -way Bill applicable from a date to be notified:

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.

E. Documents to be carried by person in charge of conveyance

The person in-charge of the conveyance shall carry tax Invoice or delivery challan or bill of supply and e-way bill in physical form or e-way bill number in electronic form or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification device embedded into conveyance, where commissioner has vide a notification required a class of transporter to carry.

However, E-way bill in physical form or E-waybill number in electronic form or the requirement of RFID devices shall not be required in case of movement of goods by rail, air or vessel. It may also not be required where, the Commissioner may, by notification, require the person-in-charge of conveyance to carry the following documents instead of the e-way bill:-

• tax invoice or bill of supply or bill of entry; or
• a delivery challan, where the goods are transported other than by way of supply.

Further, instead of tax invoice, a registered person may produce for verification, an Invoice Reference Number (IRN) generated on common portal after uploading tax invoice details in Form INV-1. The IRN shall be valid for a period of 30 days and the details in Part A of Form EWB-01 shall be auto-populated on the basis of information furnished in Form INV-1.

F. Verification of Documents and Conveyance

The commissioner or any officer empowered by him may authorize proper officer to intercept and carry physical or electronic verification of e-way bill and also verification of conveyance. 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.

Where commissioner has notified certain transporter to embed RFID device in their conveyance, verification of movement of vehicle in such cases shall be carried by RFID reader. For this, commissioner shall get RFID reader installed at places where verification of movement of such vehicle is required.

G. Inspection and verification of Goods

After inspection of goods in transit, the proper officer shall prepare online, a summary report in Part A of Form EWB-03 within 24 hours of inspection and final report in Part B of Form EWB-03 within three days of such examination.

No further verification shall be done again in the state or union territory, where verification has been done during transit in the same state or union territory, except in case of specific information relating to evasion of tax is made available subsequently.

H. Detention of vehicles for more than half an hour

Where a vehicle has been intercepted and detained for a period exceeding thirty minutes, the transporter may upload the said information in Form EWB-04 on the common portal.

(Author can be reached at Email: [email protected])