All about E-way Bill under GST

Electronic Way Bill (E-Way Bill) is a document generated on the GST Portal evidencing the shipment of goods and include name of consignor, name of consignee, place of origin and destination. It is a compliance mechanism wherein digitally the person causing the movement of goods uploads the relevant information prior to the commencement of movement of goods and generates e-way bill on the GST portal.

Objectives

• To prevent evasion of tax
• To obtain hassle free movement of goods across India
• Tracking the movement of goods

Applicability

Every registered person who causes movement of goods

• In relation to a ‘supply’
• For reasons other than a ‘supply’ (say a return)
• Due to inward ‘supply’ from an unregistered person

of consignment value more than Rs. 50000/- is required to generate an e-way bill by logging on website ewaybillgst.gov.in.

For this purpose, a supply may either be of the following:

• A supply made for a consideration (payment) in the course of business
• A supply made for a consideration (payment) which may not be in the course of business
• A supply without consideration (without payment)

In simpler terms, the term ‘supply’ usually means a:

1. Sale – sale of goods and payment made
2. Transfer – branch transfers for instance
3. Barter/Exchange – where the payment is by goods instead of in money

For certain specified Goods, the e-way bill need to be generated mandatorily even if the value of the consignment of Goods is less than Rs. 50,000:

• Inter-State movement of Goods by the Principal to the Job-worker
• Inter-State Transport of Handicraft goods by a dealer exempted from GST registration

Alternatively, E-way bill can also be generated or cancelled through SMS, Android App and by site-to-site integration through API.

Components of E-Way Bill

E-Way Bill comprises of 2 Parts:

• Part A: comprising of details of GSTIN of recipient, place of delivery (PIN Code), invoice or challan number and date, value of goods, HSN code, transport document number (Goods Receipt Number or Railway Receipt Number or Airway Bill Number or Bill of Lading Number) and reasons for transportation;
• Part B: comprising of transporter details (Vehicle number)

Who should generate E-Way Bill

• E-way bill is to be generated by the consignor or consignee himself if the transportation is being done in own/hired conveyance or by railways by air or by Vessel.
• If the goods are handed over to a transporter for transportation by road, E-way bill is to be generated by the Transporter.
• Where neither the consignor nor consignee generates the e-way bill and the value of goods is more than Rs.50,000/- it shall be the responsibility of the transporter to generate it. (Unregistered Transporters will be issued Transporter ID on enrolling on the e-way bill portal after which Eway bills can be generated.)

When an eway bill is generated, a unique Eway Bill Number (EBN) is allocated and is available to the supplier, recipient, and transporter.

The details of e-way bill generated shall be made available to the recipient, if registered, on the common portal, who shall communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment covered by the e-way bill. In case, the recipient does not communicate his acceptance or rejection within seventy two hours of the details being made available to him on the common portal, it shall be deemed that he has accepted the said details.

Blocking and unblocking of e-way bill generation

The e-way bill gets blocked if the registered taxpayer has not filled the GSTR-3B for two continuous month and the same gets unblocked only when the taxpayer files GSTR-3B.

Consolidated E-Way Bill

Consolidated e-way bill is a document containing the multiple e-way bills for multiple consignments being carried in one conveyance (goods vehicle). That is, the transporter, carrying multiple consignments of various consignors and consignees in one vehicle can generate and carry one consolidated e-way bill instead of carrying multiple e-way bills for those consignments.

Cases when e-way bill is not required

• When non-motor vehicle is used as mode of transportation
• Customs supervision good transport
• Transportation of empty cargo container
• Transportation of goods which comes under exemption of GST by state/union
• Transit cargo to or from Nepal or Bhutan
• Movement of goods caused by defence formation under Ministry of defence as a consignor or consignee
• Consignor transporting goods to or from between place of business and a weighbridge for weighment at a distance of 20 kms, accompanied by a Delivery challan.

Note: Part B of e-Way Bill is not required to be filled where the distance between the consigner or consignee and the transporter is less than 50 Kms and transport is within the same state.

Validity of E-way Bill

Validity of Eway bill can be extended also. The transporter of such Eway bill has to either four hours before expiry or within four hours after its expiry extend Eway bill validity.

Bill To- Ship To/ Bill From-Dispatch From Model

Sometimes, the tax payer raises the bill to somebody and sends the consignment to somebody else as per the business requirements. There is a provision in the eway bill system to handle this situation, called as ‘Bill to’ and ‘Ship to’.

Sometimes, the supplier prepares the bill from his business premises to consignee, but moves the consignment from some others’ premises to the consignee as per the business requirements. This is known as ‘Billing From’ and ‘Dispatching From’.

Cancellation of E-way bill

The e-way bill once generated cannot be deleted. However, it can be cancelled by the generator within 24 hours of generation. If a particular EWB has been verified by the proper officer, then it cannot be cancelled. Further, e-way bill can be cancelled if either goods are not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill.

The author can also be reached at shubhikhandelwal30@yahoo.com.