Guide to understanding E-way Bill
E-way bill under GST
In this post, we will see all about the E-way bill under Goods & Services Tax or GST.
We have categorized into the following topics:
What is an E-way bill?
- An E-Way bill / electronic way bill is a document for transporting goods from a supplier to the recipient for intra state and inter state movement. It should be generated before starting the movement of goods and generated on the E-way bill system.
- Any registered dealer generates an E-way bill (EWB) to transport goods worth more than Rs. 50,000 (Single Invoice/bill/delivery challan).
- You can also generate, extend and cancel E-way bills through various modes like the E-way bill website, SMS, and by Site-to-Site Integration (through API).
- When you generate an E-way bill, a unique E-way bill number (EBN) is also allocated. This is visible to the supplier, recipient, and transporter. The goods transporter needs to carry a copy of the document during transportation.
E- way bill Prerequisites
E- way bill under GST was introduced to control tax evasion. However, before you generate an E-way bill, you need to have the following:
- Registration on E-way bill (EWB) portal
- The Invoice / Bill / Challan of goods to be transported.
- If transportation of goods is by:
- Road- you should have a transporter ID or the Vehicle number.
- Rail, air, or ship- you should have a transporter ID, transport document number, and date on the document.
Benefits of E-way bill
Now let us see the benefits after the introduction of the E-way bill under GST.
- The traders now have no need to visit tax offices.
- No Transit Pass need for interstate movement.
- Verification of details take up less time at check-post
- Less scope for tax evasion and corruption
- Self-policing. A trader while uploading gives the identification of the buying/trader, who also has to account for the transaction.
- Environment-friendly- Paperless generation of EWB and other documents.
- Created an accurate database for tax analysis.
- Officials are now free of repetitive work.
- Growth in country’s revenue.
- Transparency in each transaction.
Exceptions to E-way bill
An E-way bill is not generated in the following situations:
- Transport of goods by a non-motorized conveyance (ex. animals carts)
- For custom’s clearance, the goods are transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex, and land customs station to an inland container depot / a container freight station.
- Transport of goods happens in an area as specified by the particular state /union territory under GST.
- Transporting tax-exempt goods(other than de-oiled cake).
- When goods listed in the negative list (alcoholic liquor for home consumption, petroleum crude, high-speed diesel, motor spirit known as petrol, natural gas, or aviation turbine fuel.) are transported.
- Goods with a value less than Rs. 50,000.
E-way bill Format
The Form GST EWB-01 contains all the details of the e-way bill. It contains two parts:
- The Part A collects all the details of goods transported, i.e. the invoice details.
- Part B contains the vehicle number in which goods are transported and transporter files this in the EWB common portal.
| PART A | PART B |
| GSTIN of Recipient (if unregistered recipient, then mention as URP) | Vehicle Number in which goods are transported |
| Place of Delivery – PIN Code of Place where goods are delivered. | |
| Invoice / Challan Number | |
| Invoice / Challan Date | |
| Value of Goods | |
| HSN Code – HSN code of goods that are transported. If turnover is up to Rs. 5 crores, mention the first 2 digits of the HSN code. If it is more then, 4 digits of HSN code. | |
| Reason for Transportation – Supply/Exp/Imp/Job Work etc | |
| Transportation Document Number (TDN) – Document Number provided by the transporter |
Modes of E-way bill generation
A GST registered person can generate an E-way bill by any one of the 5 following methods:
- Web-based system – You can generate e-way bill on the EWB common portal.
- Mobile App and SMS– The taxpayer register their mobile number and download the mobile APP from SANDES portal to generate the e-way bill.
- Bulk generation – Any taxpayer/ transporter can upload multiple invoices and generate multiple E-way bills. So, any taxpayers /transporters who have automated their invoice generation system use this method. Thus, it avoids duplicate data entry and data entry mistakes.
- Site-to-Site integration – The integration between the e-way bill system and registered persons’ system can be done through APIs. For this facility, the registered person register the server details of their systems (through which he wants to generate the e-way bill using the APIs of the e-way bill system) with the e-way bill system.
- GSP (Goods and Services Tax Suvidha Provider)- You can also use GST Suvidha Provider to generate your E-way bill. Check out our blog on GST Suvidha Provider for more details.
Note:
The supplier generates the e-way bill system, and it is available to the registered recipient. The recipient can accept or reject goods under that e-way bill. If the recipient does not confirm it within 72 hours of EWB generation, it is considered accepted by the recipient.
Validity of E-way bill
The validity of the E-way bill generated from the EWB portal is given below:
| SL. NO | DISTANCE | VALIDITY |
| 1 | Less than 100 Km | 1 Day |
| 2 | For every 100 Km thereafter | 1 Day |
Note:
- The validity of EWB starts from its time of generation, and each day is 24 hours.
- If the goods are not transported within the validity period, the transporter generates another EWB after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.
- Generally, you cannot transport goods after the validity expires.
E-way bill Cancellation
Cancellation of E-way bill can be done within 24 hours of its generation. This can be done on the EWB common portal either directly or by a Facilitation Centre (notified by the commissioner).
However, you can not cancel an E-way bill if it is verified in transit, even before the expiry of 24 hrs.
Documents for Transporter
- Invoice/bill of supply/delivery challan or Invoice reference number as generated on the portal
- A copy of the e-way bill / the e-way bill number. This can be in physical form or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) embedded in the transportation
Note: RFID mapping is compulsory for such class of transporters (Notified by Commissioner)
E-way bill & Penalty
- E-way bills are verified during the transit by RFID readers and physical verification by authorized officers.
- As per Section 122 of the CGST Act, 2017, a taxable person who transports any taxable goods without specified documents is liable to a penalty of Rs.10,000 or tax evaded amount (wherever applicable) whichever is greater.
- As per Section 129 of CGST Act, 2017, all such goods, transported vehicles used and related documents are liable to detention or seizure.
- If tax evasion happens, then physical verification of transportation is done after getting approval from the Commissioner or an authorized officer.
- Verification report summary of each goods inspection is submitted within 24 hrs in FORM GST EWB-03 (PART A). The final report is submitted within 3 days of the inspection in FORM GST EWB-03 (PART B). After verification, if nothing is reported no further verification is done by the state.
We have come to the end of this post. Share your queries and opinion on this post in our comments.
E-way bills got you down?
Saral saves you time by generating them in seconds! It even integrates with your GST and invoicing, keeping everything organised in one spot.
One tap uploads, clear data views, and easy invoice emailing. All at your fingertips!
Stop wasting time, try Saral FREE today!
Click Here
