Everything You Need to Know About the E-Way Bill – A Complete Guide

What is an e-waybill ? 

Electronic Way Bill is known as E-way bill. A commodities and Service Tax (GST) E-way bill is a form used to monitor the movement of commodities. A GST-registered taxable person who transports goods valued at more than Rs. 50,000 is required to have an E-way bill created on the GST Portal.

With the stroke of a button, E-way Bills can be automatically generated and shared with customers or suppliers. The E-way bill regulations specify the process for shifting the movements of commodities. It should be noted that the E-way bill implementation was postponed when the GST Act went into effect on July 1st.\

 

What is the e-way bill format 

The E-way bill is divided into Parts A and B. The information pertaining to consignment, often the invoice details, is gathered in Part A of the E-way bill. As a result, the following data must be provided.

• The recipient’s GSTIN must be provided.
• The delivery location’s pin code.
• The number from the invoice or challan against which the goods were supplied must be provided.

• The consignment’s value.
• The HSN code for the transported items. The first two digits of the HSN code should be mentioned if the turnover is up to INR 5 crores. A four-digit HSN code is necessary if the turnover exceeds INR 5 crores.
• The requirement for transportation should be identified in advance, and the best justification should be chosen.
• The transport document number as it contains the airway bill number, the railway receipt number, and the goods receipt number.

Who should be generating the e-way Bill ? 

• If the shipment is being transported via their own or contracted means of transportation (air, rail, or road), every registered individual who may be a consignor, consignee, recipient, or transporter must produce an e-way bill.
• A non-registered individual who is making a supply for a registered recipient. Since the supplier is not registered in this instance, the recipient must complete the compliance procedure.
• If neither the consignor nor the consignee creates an e-way bill after handing over the items to the transporter for road transportation, the transporter is responsible for doing so.

Note- Consignors have the option to give the transporter, courier service, or online merchant permission to fill out PART-A of the e-way bill on their behalf.

In two situations, an e-way bill must be generated regardless of the consignment’s value (even if it is less than Rs. 50,000):

• When an interstate transaction involves a principal providing the commodities to an employee.
• When a vendor who has been exempted from GST registration transfers handcrafted goods between states.

How to Generate an e-way Bill? 

The GSTN has the authority to issue the bill. Discover how to use the GSTN to create an e-way bill. An e-way bill number (EBN) will be given to the supplier, recipient, and driver involved in the delivery of the items once it has been generated. 

If the supplier doesn’t have access to the internet, they can still create and cancel e-way bills using SMS. However, the supplier must first log in to the GSTN portal and select the “For SMS” option from the “Registration” tab on the dashboard in order to start this procedure.

The recipient will have access to the generated e-way bill’s details on the shared portal. The supply should be accepted or rejected on the portal by the intended recipient. The e-way bill is deemed “accepted” after 72 hours if the recipient doesn’t do anything.

Documents required to generate an E-way bill 

• Relevant invoice, bill of supply, or challan for the shipment of commodities
• If a road transport is involved, the vehicle number or the transporter ID
• Transporter ID, Transport document number, and date—whether by ship, rail, or air.

 

Validity of an e-waybill 

An e-way bill’s validity is determined by the distance traveled.

The validity period will begin one day before the date of bill generation if the distance is less than 200 km. The validity is increased by one day from the pertinent date for every additional 200 kilometers.

Documents to be Carried by the Person in Charge of Transportation of the Goods

• The delivery challan, invoice, or bill of supply. 
• The transporter should have their transporter ID on them when traveling by road. 
• The transporter should have their transporter ID, the transport document number, and the date of transportation with them while transporting goods by rail, air, or ship.

• A copy of the e-way bill or the EBN for the e-way bill. The EBN can either be physically carried by the transporter on paper or mapped to an RFID by the transporter.

Exemptions

In the following circumstances, an e-way bill is not necessary:

• If the consignment’s value is less than Rs. 50,000.
• Whenever the items being sent are GST-exempt.
• Note – The value of the exempt products is subtracted from the value of the consignment if it contains both taxable and exempt goods.

• If items are moved by non-motorized means (such as trains). An invoice or challan should be carried throughout the conveyance of goods even though an e-way bill is not necessary.
• If goods are delivered to an inland container depot or a container goods station from a port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station for clearance by the customs department.

• Transportation of goods in accordance with the Annexed Rule 138(14) of the CGST rules 2017 

Verification of Documents & Supplies 

• To examine the e-way bill or look up the number on paper, an authorized officer may halt the vehicle 
• Verification of the e-way bill may be done through a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID), if the e-way bill has been mapped with RFID.

 

What are the penalties associated with the e-way bill 

Those who break the GST e-way rules are punished in accordance with Indian government regulations. The following are the penalties:

• A taxable person who carries any taxable goods without the cover of specific documents (e-Way bill is one of the specified documents) is subject to a penalty of Rs. 10,000 or the amount of tax attempted to be evaded, whichever is larger, according to Section 122 of the CGST Act, 2017.
• According to Section 129 of the CGST Act of 2017, any commodities detected being moved or stored that are not specified in a GST e-way bill are subject to detention or confiscation.

Penalty for Transporting Goods without Valid Documents in E-Way Bills

If a transporter or a supplier violates the terms of the GST Act or any rules made thereunder by transporting or storing any goods without having any valid documents related to those goods during transit, and the supplier uses those same goods or the goods stored in transit, those goods are subject to detention or seizure by the responsible officers. 

Once the supplier or the transporter satisfies the requirements, the police will release the products that have been seized, held, or stored. The person is required to pay the fine in accordance with CGST Act Section 129(1) Clauses (a) and (b). The prerequisites are listed below:

Transporting Goods without paying Tax and valid documents

The responsible party must pay the applicable tax and a penalty equal to 100% of the entire tax due on the value of the carried products if the supplier o r transporter fails to pay taxes or is transported without the necessary documentation.

If someone transported items that were exempted from transportation, they must pay a fine of Rs. 25,000 or 2% of the value of the products, whichever is smaller.

Transporting Goods only without valid documents

The person must pay 50% of the entire value of the goods moved if the supplier or transporter paid the tax on the products in question but transported them without proper documentation.

If the subject person transported products that were exempt from transportation taxes, the subject person must pay either a fine of Rs. 25,000 or 5% of the value of the exempted items, whichever is smaller.

Wrapping Up

The whole purpose of the e-way bill is for ensuring that items being transported conform with the GST Law, and are also an excellent tool for tracking the flow of goods and detecting tax evasion.