Everything You Need to Know About E-way Bill

The E-way bill under the Central goods and services tax rules, 2017 is covered under rule 138. However, no such rule was framed when the tax rules came into effect from 01.07.2017. The E-way bill rules were then framed by the central government vide notification no. 27/2017- central tax dated 30.08.2017.

Rule 138 was revised and rule 138A and 138D were inserted.

Rule 138 deals with the generation of information prior to the commencement of movement of goods and e-way bill generation.

Rule 138A deals with the documents that need to be carried by the person-in-charge of the conveyance

Rule 138B describes the procedure that needs to be followed for verification of documents and conveyance.

Rule 138C deals with inspection and verification of the goods

Rule 138D provides for the uploading of information regarding the declaration of the vehicle.

The following forms are prescribed for the same purpose:

• Form GST EWB-01: E-way bill
• Form GST EWB-02: Consolidated E-way Bill
• Form GST EWB-03: verification report
• Form GST EWB-04: report of detention
• Form GST INV-01: Generation of invoice Reference number
• Form GST ENR-01: application for enrolment for unregistered persons under section 35(2)

 

E-way Bill

E-way bill is an electronic document that conveys the movement of goods through the portal. It contains two parts, Part A deals with the details of GSTIN of the recipient, place of delivery of goods, date, invoice and challan number, the value of the goods, HSG code, and reasons for the transportation along with the transport document number. Part B deals with the details of transporter such as the vehicle number.

Any registered person whose consignment on the movement of goods exceeds Rs. 50,000/- needs to produce such information specified in part A of the e-way bill.

 

Objectives

The various objectives of E-way bill are:

• To provide for the hassle-free movement of goods throughout the country through a single E-way bill
• No separate transit pass required to enter each state for movement of goods
• Adoption of self-declaration model instead of a departmental-policing model for the movement of goods.

 

Benefits

The various benefits of the e-way bill are:

• Doesn’t require taxpayers and transporters to visit tax officers or check posts for movement of goods across states which the advent of e-way bill
• Elimination of check posts in GST regime enables fast movement of goods resulting in the optimum use of vehicles and resources.
• E-way bill system is user-friendly and thereby easy to put to use.
• Provides quick and easy generation of e-way bills
• Provides simplification of the process for verification of E-way bill.

 

Features

The various features of the E-way bill portal are:

• Enables users to create database of its customers, suppliers, and products which helps in easy generation of e-way bill
• Easy monitoring of e-way bills generated on the account
• Enables E-way bills generation through multiple nodes
• Enables users to create further sub-users and specify roles for easy generation of E-way bill
• Users are alerted through mail and SMS on their registered email id and mobile number.
• Information about vehicle number can be entered either by the transporter or the e-way bill generator.
• Each e-way bill has a QR code on it for easy procurement of details
• Enables generation of the consolidated e-way bill in case of a vehicle carrying multiple consignments.

 

Registration

The e-way bill can be used by the GST taxpayers by registering through the GSTIN numbers. For unregistered transporters and businesses, they can enroll for e-way bill system through their PAN card number or Aadhar.

Modes of generation

The various modes of generation of the e-way bill are:

• Through the use of web using browsers, mobile, phones, laptops etc.
• Through mobile apps on Android smartphones
• Via SMS through the registered mobile number
• Vis API i.e. through the interaction of e-way bill generation system with the IT system of the user
• Through third party based systems such as Suvidha Providers

 

System of e-way bills in States

The various stages rolled out in the states for the generation of the e-way bill are:

• On trial basis, the e-way bill system will be rolled out on 16.01.2018
• The following will come into effect from 01.02.2018
• The states can follow the e-way bill system anytime before 01.06.2018
• The e-way bill system will be applied uniformly to all states from 01.06.2018 onwards.

 

The following four states have already adopted the e-way bill system and together are known to generate about 1.4 lakhs of the e-way bill in a day. These states are Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Karnataka, and Kerala.

In Uttarakhand, the e-way bill system came into effect from 01.01.2018

In Rajasthan, the e-way bill system came into effect from 20.12.2017

In Karnataka, the e-way bill system came into effect from 06.09.2017

These states have adopted the following mode of bill generation:

• SMS module
• Application program interface (API)
• Generation of e-way bills in bulk