Rule 138 of CGST Rules, 2017 provides the power to Central Government to specify the documents that the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods shall carry till the E-bill system is developed.
Now, the Central Government vide Notification no. 27/2017-Central Tax, dated. 30-08-2017 has substituted Rule 138 of CGST Rules, 2017 and prescribed the detailed procedure to be followed for generation of E-way bill and information to be furnished prior to commencement of movement of goods.
Therefore, every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees (Rs. 50,000/-):
(i) in relation to a supply; or
(ii) for reasons other than supply; or
(iii) due to inward supply from an unregistered person,
shall, before commencement of such movement, furnish information relating to the said goods in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01, electronically, on the common portal.
Where in an eventuality, the goods are transported by the registered person as a consignor or the recipient of supply as the consignee, whether in his own conveyance or a hired one or by railways or by air or by vessel, the said person or the recipient may generate the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01 electronically on the common portal after furnishing information in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
In case, where the e-way bill is not generated as mentioned above and the goods are handed over to a transporter for transportation by road, the registered person shall furnish the information relating to the transporter in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01 on the common portal and the e-way bill shall be generated by the transporter on the said portal on the basis of the information furnished by the registered person in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01.
The rule 138 also provided that registered person or, as the case may be, the transporter may, at his option, generate and carry the e-way bill even if the value of the consignment is less than fifty thousand rupees (less than Rs. 50,000/-). It is recommended that even if the value of goods are below Rs. 50,000/- then also the said goods to be transported along with the e-way bill in order to prevent unauthorised collection from the Department Officials.
In addition to the above, rule 138 prescribed the manner of generation of Where the movement is caused by an unregistered person either in his own conveyance or a hired one or through a transporter, he or the transporter may, at their option, generate the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01 on the common portal e-way bill by the unregistered persons as well.
The rule provides that where the goods are transported for a distance of less than ten kilometres 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, the supplier or the transporter may not furnish the details of conveyance in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01. Thus, it shall be optional if the goods are sent to the place of transporter for further transportation to furnish the information of conveyance in Part B of GST EWB-01.
Note: It is to be noteworthy that e-way bill once generated cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B.
Further, in the said notification it has been prescribed that after rule 138, a new rule 138A shall be inserted prescribing the documents & devices to be carried by a person-in-charge of a conveyance. Following are text of new Rule 138A prescribing documents and devices which needs to be carried by a person-in-charge of a conveyance:
138A-(1) The person in charge of a conveyance shall carry -
(a) the invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be; and
(b) a copy of the e-way bill or the e-way bill number, either physically or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device embedded on to the conveyance in such manner as may be notified by the Commissioner.
(2) A registered person may obtain an Invoice Reference Number from the common portal by uploading, on the said portal, a tax invoice issued by him in FORM GST INV-1 and produce the same for verification by the proper officer in lieu of the tax invoice and such number shall be valid for a period of thirty days from the date of uploading.
(3) Where the registered person uploads the invoice under sub-rule (2), the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 shall be auto-populated by the common portal on the basis of the information furnished inFORM GST INV-1.
(4) The Commissioner may, by notification, require a class of transporters to obtain a unique Radio Frequency Identification Device and get the said device embedded on to the conveyance and map the e-way bill to the Radio Frequency Identification Device prior to the movement of goods.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained clause (b) of sub-rule (1), where circumstances so warrant, the Commissioner may, by notification, require the person-in-charge of the conveyance to carry the following documents instead of the e-way bill-
(a) tax invoice or bill of supply or bill of entry; or
(b) a delivery challan, where the goods are transported for reasons other than by way of supply.
Apart from the above, new rules regarding the following has been prescribed:
(i) Verification of documents and conveyances (Rule 138B);
(ii) Inspection and verification of goods (Rule 138C);
(iii) Facility for uploading information regarding detention of vehicle (Rule 138D). This rule shall prevent the departmental officers from unauthorised collection of money from the transporters.
[Notification no.27/2017-Central Tax, dated. 30-08-2017]
Comment: As provided in the notification, the said procedure will come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
The author can also be reached at mail.rasu.cs@gmail.com
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