Understanding the e-Way Bill Under GST

The e-way bill compliance was launched on a trial basis from 16th of January and will be full-fledged from the 1st of February, 2018. The single e-way bill is aimed at a hassle-free movement of goods throughout the country and eliminates the need for separate transit pass for movement of goods through different states.

The e-way bill is used to move goods from one place to another. It is meant for suppliers, recipients and transporters.

E-way bills were used earlier by different states in India (e-sugam in Karnataka), but the idea now is to unify these into one single e-way bill throughout the country. This bill will follow the same format throughout the country, thus standardizing it.

What is a way bill?

A way bill is a document that allows movement of goods from one place to another. In the pre-GST era, suppliers need to obtain 'way bills' from VAT authorities.

Why e-bill?

The waybills compliance process was tedious in the VAT format and hence restricted movement of goods.

Supplying the goods especially from one state to another required you to get the physical document of way bill, and this would increase the transit time.

What is an e-way bill?

It is an electronic form way bill generated on its portal ewaybill.nic.in. For transport of goods worth Rs 50,000 and more, an e-way bill is required.

Once registered on the portal, you can also avail the SMS service to generate or cancel an e-way bill. A unique e-way bill number (EBN) will be generated to be shared among suppliers, recipients, and transporters.

When is an e-way bill required?

• When the value of the goods transported is over Rs 50,000
• when it is a 'supply.'
• when its a return of a supply.
• In case of an inward supply from an unregistered person

A supply here means the sale of goods where you receive payment. It could also mean transfer of goods to a different branch or when you perform an exchange of goods for goods.

 

When is an e-way bill not required?

• When the mode of transport used is not a motor vehicle
• When you transport goods from a port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station to Inland Container Depot (ICD) or Container Freight Station (CFS) for clearance by Customs.
• Transport of some specified goods like livestock. The portal has a list of goods that do not require an e-way bill. You could refer it.

 

How is it different from way bill? New features included

• Transports can now raise a complaint if their vehicle is detained for more than 30 minutes.
• The form GSTR-1 gets auto-populated. A GSTR-1 is the monthly return form that contains the summary of all outward supplies of a taxpayer.
• Removes the need for double check by another tax officer during movement of goods
• Additional compliance with Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) is required. HSN is a commodity description and coding system used under GST.
• The recipient needs to accept the e-way bill within 72 hours of generation.
• Requires transporters to register themselves compulsorily.