E-way bill under GST - an overview

3 comments Sunday, January 28, 2018
E-Way Bill is knocking  at the door as the date of its implementation has been notified 01.02.2018. This article focuses certain main points in the eway bill mechanism.

What is e-way bill: Section 68 of the CGST Act, 2017 empowers Government to require any person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding the prescribed amount to carry with him prescribed documents. In pursuance of provisions of section 68, Rules 138 to 138D have been legislated prescribing Eway Bill in form GST EWB 01 along with other documents which a person incharge of conveyance carrying goods of value exceeding Rs. 50000/-, is required to carry during the movement of goods.

Who is required to generate Eway bill and when it is required: Eway bill is required to be generated by the following persons:

1. every registered person who causes the movement of goods of consignment value exceeding Rs. 50000/-  

(i) in relation to a supply; or

(ii) for reasons other than supply; or 

(iii) due to inward supply from an unregistered person,

It is pertinent to mention here that Eway Bill has to be generated before the movement of goods start and is required only by a registered person, and not by an unregistered person, however, unregistered person may voluntarily generate eway bill. Eway bill may be generated voluntarily even where the consignment value does not exceed Rs. 50000/-. 

2. where goods are sent by a principal located in one State to a job worker located in any other State, the e-way bill shall be generated by the principal irrespective of the value of the consignment.It is to be noted that limit of Rs. 50000/- in case of intra-state movement of goods for job work purposes will continue to apply.

3. where handicraft goods are transported from one State to another by a person who has been exempted from the requirement of obtaining registration under clauses (i) and (ii) of section 24, the e-way bill shall be generated by the said person irrespective of the value of the consignment.

Consignment value of Rs. 50000/- as stated above has to be determined in accordance with Section 15 of CGST Act, which deals with valuation of supply and the consignment value of Rs. 50000/- shall be counted by including not only the value of goods but also the GST and Cess if any charged on it.

Generation of E-way bill: Eway bill has two parts,Part-A and Part-B. Part-A includes details of invoice/challan/credit note and the details of receipient and transporter, whereas Part-B only has information with regard to vehicle no. when you have prepared invoice relating to your business transaction, but don’t have the transportation details. You can enter invoice details in Part-A of eway bill and keep it ready for transportation, once the transportation is ready.

It is worth mentioning here that mere filing Part-A is not valid for movement of goods on road, except for the movement of goods from the place of the supplier or the receipient as the case may be to the place of transporter where the distance between the two is less than 10 KMs.

Who is to file Part-A: Part-A has to be filed mandatorily by the registered person who causes the movement of goods whether as consignor or as consignee or as recipient, whether the goods are transported in his own conveyance or by railways or by air or by vessel.

Part-A can also be filed by the transporter and it is mandatory for the transporter to file Part-A, if the supplier or receipient fails to do so and the consignment value exceed Rs. 50000/-

For example if A transporter is carrying 5 different consignments of five different suppliers and receipients in one vehicle the value of each consignment is say Rs. 20000/-, in such case the total value of consignments carried in the vehicle comes to Rs. 100000/- In such case although it was not mandatory for supplier of receipient of each consignment  to generate eway bill but in such case it is mandatory for the transporter to generate eway bill by filing both Part-A and Part-B.

Part-A can also be filed by an unregistered person voluntarily, however, it has been stated in Explanation 2 of Rule 138(3) that if goods are supplied by an unregistered person to a registered recipient and recipient is known at the time of commencement of movement of goods, then the movement shall be said to be caused by such registered receipient.

In other words meaning thereby if supply is by an unregistered person to a registered person, then it is mandatory for the registered receipient to generate eway bill, ofcource if the consignment value exceed Rs. 50000/-.


Where the goods to be transported are supplied through an e-commerce operator (for example: amazon, flipkart etc), Part-A may also be furnished by such e-commerce operator.

Who is to file Part-B:  As stated above also, Part B only contains information with regard to vehicle number.

 In case movement is caused by own conveyance or a hired conveyance, it is the person causing the movement has to file Part-B

In case of movement by rail or by air or vessel Part -B has to be mandatorily filed by the registered person and along with it the serial number and date of Railway Receipt or the Air consignment note or Bill of Lading are also required to mentioned in the Part-A.

If the goods are handed over to a transporter for transportation by Road Part-B will be filed by the transporter.

The unique feature of Eway bill is that Part B of eway bill can be updated in the following circumstances:

1.   where the goods are transferred from one conveyance to another, in such case Part-B will be mandatorily updated with new vehicle number before such transfer and further movement of goods.

For example: If the vehicle breaks down when the goods are being carried with EWB, then the transporter can cause to repair the vehicle and continue the journey. If he is going to change the vehicle, then he has to enter the new vehicle details for that EWB on the web-site using ‘Update vehicle number’ option and continue the journey with new vehicle.

Part-B can be updated as many times as it Is required but should be done within validity period. It has also been further provided in 2nd proviso to Rule 138(9) that the unique number generated by filing Part-A shall be valid for 72 hours for updation of Part-B.

2.   There may be instances that transporter assign the consignment to other transporter after booking from the supplier or recipient. In such situation Rule 138(5A) provides that the transporter may assign the e-way bill number to another registered or enrolled transporter for updating the information in Part-B. It is worth noting here that whenever Part-A is filed by the registered person and he has to mention the transporter’s GSTIN or enrollment id in Part-A, if the goods are handed over to transporter.

However, once the details of the conveyance are updated by the transporter in part-B then supplier or recipient who had furnished Part-A will not be allowed to assign the eway bill number to another transporter.

Validity of E-way Bill: E-way Bill’s validity has been prescribed under Rule 138 in terms of distance involved in the movement of goods. It as follows:

S.No.
Distance
Validity Period
1
Upto 100 km
1 day
2
For every 100 km. or part thereof thereafter
One additional day:

It should be noted here that the period of validity shall be counted from the time at which the e-way bill has been generated and each day shall be counted as twenty four hours.

Rule 138(10) further provides that where, under circumstances of an exceptional nature, the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may generate another e-way bill after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01.

Cancellation of E-way Bill: Rule 138(9) provides for cancellation of eway bill within 24 hours of generation of the e-way bill, which can be done in the following circumstances:

-Where goods are  not transported at all or

-are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill. 

However,  an e-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B.

Consolidated E-way bill: Where multiple consignments are intended to be transported in one conveyance, the transporter may indicate the serial number of e-way bills generated in respect of each such consignment electronically on the common portal and a consolidated e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-02 maybe generated by him on the said common portal prior to the movement of goods.

Acceptence and rejection of e-way bills: The eway bills generated shall be made available to a registered supplier if generated by recipient or transporter and vice versa to the registered recipient if generated by supplier or transporter. The same has to be accepted or rejected by the supplier or recipient as the case may be, however if nothing is done within seventy two hours then it shall be deemed that he has accepted the said details.

When no e-way bill is required:Rule 138(14) provides with a non-abstante clause the circumstances where no eway bill is required, these are as follows:

(a) where the goods being transported are specified in Annexure;

(b) where the goods are being transported by a non-motorised conveyance;

(c) where the goods are 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;

(d) in respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under clause (d) of sub-rule (14) of rule 138 of the Goods and Services Tax Rules of the concerned State;

(e) where the goods, other than de-oiled cake, being transported are specified in the Schedule appended to notification No. 2/2017- Central tax (Rate) dated the 28th June, as amended from time to time;(the schedule is for tax free or nil rated goods)

(f) where the goods being transported are alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel; and

(g) where the goods being transported are treated as no supply under Schedule III of the Act.

Documents and devices to be carried with a conveyance: Rule 138A prescribes following documents which a person incharge of a conveyance must 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.(there is no such notification till the date when this article is written).

(c) Rule 138A(2) also provides facility of generation of Invoice reference number by uploading on the e-way bill portal the tax invoice in form GST INV-1, which will be valid for thirty days from the date of uploading and in which case no physical invoice is required to be carried along with the conveyance.

Verification of documents and conveyance: Rule 138B and Rule 138C empowers the proper officer (who is duly authorized to do so either by Commissioner or an officer empowered in this regard)to intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill or number thereof.

Physical verification of conveyance can be done only by the proper officer who is duly athorised to do so, however physical verification of conveyance can also be done by any officer other than proper officer after obtaining necessary approval, if there is receipt of specific information on evasion of tax.

Rule 138C also mandates the proper officer to record online summary inspection report of every inspection of goods in transit in Part-A of form GST EWB 03 and a final report within three days in Part-B of the said form.

Once a physical verification of a conveyance is done in a state or in any other State then further physical verification can be done unless a specific information with regard to evasion of tax is made available subsequently.

Certain important FAQs

Question: How to enter multiple modes of transportation, i.e., road, rail, ship, air for the same e-way bill?

Answer: One e-way bill can go through multiple modes of transportation before reaching the destination. As per the mode of transportation, the EWB can be updated with new mode of transportation by using ‘Update Vehicle Number’.
Let us assume the goods are moving from Cochin to Chandigarh through road, ship, air and road again. First, the taxpayer generates the EWB by entering first stage of movement (by road) from his place to ship yard and enters the vehicle number. Next, he will submit the goods to ship yard and update the mode of transportation as Ship and transport document number on the e-way bill system. Next, after reaching Mumbai, the taxpayer or concerned transporter updates movement as road from ship to airport with vehicle number. Next the taxpayer or transporter updates, using ‘update vehicle number’ option, the Airway Bill number. Again after reaching Delhi, he updates movement through road with vehicle number. This way, the e-way bill will be updated with multiple mode of transportation.

Question: How to handle the goods which moves through multiple transshipment places?

Answer: Some of the consignments move from one place to another place till they reach their destinations. Under this circumstance, each time the consignment moves from one place to another, the transporter needs to enter the vehicle details using ‘Update Vehicle Number’ option, when he starts moving the goods from that place or the transporter can also generate ‘Consolidated EWB’ with the EWB of that consignment with other EWBs and move to the next place. This has to be done till the consignment reaches destination. But it should be within the validity period of EWB.

Question: How to generate e-way bill for multiple invoices belonging to same consignor and consignee?

Answer: If multiple invoices are issued by the supplier to recipient, that is, for movement of goods of more than one invoice of same consignor and consignee, multiple EWBs have to be generated. That is, for each invoice, one EWB has to be generated, irrespective of same or different consignors or consignees are involved. Multiple invoices cannot be clubbed to generate one EWB. However after generating all these EWBs, one Consolidated EWB can be prepared for transportation purpose, if they are going in one vehicle.

Question:  How to enter invoice having different states for “Bill to” and “Ship to” places and what will be the tax rates?

Answer: If the addresses involved in 'Bill to' and 'Ship to' in a invoice/bill belongs to one legal name/taxpayer as per GSTIN within the state, then one e-way bill has to be generated. That is, if the 'Bill to' is principal place of business and 'Ship to' is additional place of business of the GSTIN or vice versa in a invoice/bill, then one e-way bill is sufficient for the movement of goods.
If the addresses involved in 'Bill to' and 'Ship to' in a invoice/bill belongs to different legal names/taxpayers, then two e-way bills have to be generated. One e-way bill for first invoice, second e-way bill is from 'Bill to' party to 'Ship to' party based on the invoice/bill of the 'Bill to' party. This is required to complete the cycle of transactions and taxes will change for inter-state transactions.

For example, A has issued invoice to B as 'Bill to' with C as 'Ship to'. Legally, both B and C are different taxpayers. Now, A will generate one e-way bill and B will issue invoice and generate one more e-way bill. As goods are moving from A to C directly, the transporter will produce both the invoices and e-way bills to show the shortcut movement of goods.

Question: How to generate e-way bill, if the goods of one invoice is being moved in multiple vehicles simultaneously?

Answer: Where the goods are being transported in a semi knocked down or completely knocked down condition the EWB shall be generated for each of such vehicles based on the delivery challans issued for that portion of the consignment and;

(a) the supplier shall issue the complete invoice before dispatch of the first consignment;

(b) the supplier shall issue a delivery challan for each of the subsequent consignments, giving reference of the invoice;

(c) each consignment shall be accompanied by copies of the corresponding delivery challan along with a duly certified copy of the invoice; and

(d) the original copy of the invoice shall be sent along with the last consignment
Please note that multiple EWBs have to generate under this circumstance. That is, the EWB has to be generated for each consignment based on the delivery challan details along with the corresponding vehicle number.

“semi knocked-down” is used to describe a product that is exported in a set of parts that have been partly put together, and which are then all put together for sale to customers:

For example: Buses will be imported in semi knocked-down form.

"completely knocked-down" is  used to describe a product that s sold or transported in a set of parts, which must be put together before the product can be used by the customer:

For example: Motorcycles can be transported in completely knocked-down kits,  hich reduced transport costs because less space was needed to transport them.






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