All about the latest Eway bill laws in India – Guide released by Bhopal CGST Zone

Introduction

Eway bill has become a nightmare for many businesses due to lack of complete information and informal circulation of the wrong information. To create awareness about the concepts of eway bill, many private and public organisations has contributed various guides, FAQs, write ups etc. Hence, to provide a good referencer, we have redrafted one of the beautifully written article of Bhopal CGST Zone to help business understand and implement the Eway bill properly.

Let us proceed to understand the latest concepts of eway bills in India.

What is a Eway bill?

E-way bill is an electronic document generated on the GST portal evidencing movement of goods. The common portal for generation of e-way bill is https://ewaybillgst.gov.in.  It has two Components-

• 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; and
   

• Part B comprising of transporter details (Vehicle number). The pre-requisite for generation of e-way bill is that the person who generates eway bill should be a registered person on GST portal and he should register in the eway bill portal.

Why Eway bill was introduced?

The e-way bill Concepts is aim to remove the existing short comings of the bill system prevailing under VAT in different states, which was a major contributor to the traffic jam at the check posts.

Through uniform Eway bill system will help digitalising the economy and which facilitate faster decision making.

It is bound to improve the turnaround time of vehicles and help the logistics industry by increasing the average distances travelled, reducing the travel time as well as costs.

When Eway bill is required to be generated?

At present e-way bill is required only for inter-State movement of goods for consignment valuing more than Rs.50,000/-. For intra-State movement of goods the requirement for e-way bill will be introduced in a phased manner, for which rules will be notified by respective states separately.

How to generate the eway bill?

The e-way bill can be generated by any of the following methods:

• Using Web based system
   
• Using SMS based facility
   
• Using Android App  Bulk generation facility
   
• Using Site-to-Site integration
   
• Using GSP (Goods and Services Tax Suvidha Provider)

Whose responsibility is to generate the eway 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.

Option for consolidated Eway bill for transporter

A transporter can generate the consolidated e-way bills for movement of multiple consignments in one vehicle. 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.

No Eway bill is required for the following case

No e-way bill is required to be generated in the following cases

• Transport of goods as specified in Annexure to Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017     e.g. used personal and household effects
   

• Goods being transported by a non-motorised conveyance;
   

• Goods being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs;
   
• In respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under rule 138(14) (d) of the SGST Rules, 2017 of the concerned State;
   
• Consignment value less than Rs. 50,000/-, etc.

Minimum KM to travel under Eway bill – Validity of Eway bill

The validity of e-way bill depends on the distance to be travelled by the goods. Hence, it is important that one should know about these rules properly. Let us understand the cases properly;

• In cases other than Over Dimensional Cargo, for a distance of less than 100 Km the e-way bill will be valid for a day from the relevant date.
   

• For every 100 Km thereafter, the validity will be additional one day from the relevant date.
   

• In case of Over Dimensional Cargo, for a distance of less than 20 Km the e-way bill will be valid for a day.
   

• For every 20 Km thereafter, the validity will be additional one day. 

Meaning of relevant date

The “relevant date” shall mean the date on which the e-way bill has been generated. Validity of the e-way bill depends upon the distance the goods have to be transported and this validity expires on the midnight of last day. This can be explained by following examples –

• Suppose an e-way bill is generated at 00:04 hrs. on 14^th March. Then first day would end on 12:00 midnight of 15 -16 March. Second day will end on 12:00 midnight of 16-17 March and so on.
   

• Suppose an e-way bill is generated at 23:58 hrs. on 14^th March. Then first day would end on 12:00 midnight of 15-16 March. Second day will end on 12:00 midnight of 16-17 March and so on.

Eway bill generated but goods not transported        

Where an e-way bill has been generated under this rule, but goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill may be cancelled electronically on the common portal, within 24 hours of generation of the e-way bill.

However, an e-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit.

Rejection of Eway bill in India

There is also provision of rejecting Eway bill. The person who causes transport of goods shall generate the e-way bill specifying the details of other person as a recipient of goods. There is a provision in the common portal for the other party to see the e-way bill generated against his/her GSTIN.

As the other party, one can communicate the acceptance or rejection of such consignment specified in the e-way bill. If the acceptance or rejection is not communicated within 72 hours from the time of generation of e-way Bill or the time of delivery of goods whichever is earlier,, it will be deemed that he has accepted the details.

Verification of any vehicle on road

The Commissioner or an officer empowered by him in this behalf may authorise the proper officer to intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill or the e-way bill number.

The physical verification of conveyances may also be carried out by the proper officer as authorised by the Commissioner or an officer empowered by him in this behalf.

Physical verification of a specific conveyance can also be carried out by any officer, on receipt of specific information on evasion of tax, after obtaining necessary approval of the Commissioner or an officer authorised by him in this behalf.

Conclusion and acknowledgment

We acknowledge the great efforts of Bhopal Central tax zone for contributing this article for the benefit of the tax payer. We have just made it easier to understand and also to help it to reach to the masses.

For any other information, you may please send an email to info@hubco.in.

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