M/s. Tamil Nadu Edible Oils Private Limited, -14/7, Gangwal Mansion, III Floor, III Avenue, Anna Nagar East Tamil Nadu Chennai-600 102 (hereinafter called the ‘Applicant’) is registered person under the GST with GSTIN 33AAACT2563J1ZF7. The applicant is engaged in the business of Refining of Edible Oils (falling under Chapter 15), with its manufacturing facility located at Gummidipoondi, near Chennai. They have sought Advance Ruling on the following question :

1.   Whether e-way bill is required for consignments pertaining to multiple invoices to multiple customers moved in the same conveyance, in which value of each invoice is less than the limits for generation of e-way bill but in aggregate, the value of the multiple invoices exceeds the specified limit.

The Applicant has submitted the copy of application in Form GST ARA-01 and also submitted a copy of Challan evidencing payment of application fees of ₹ 5,000/- each under sub-rule (1) of Rule 104 of CGST Rules, 2017 and SGST Rules, 2017.

2.   The applicant has informed that they own various transport vehicles to facilitate the delivery of goods to the customers. They undertake delivery of goods pertaining to multiple invoices in a single goods carriage vehicle owned by them within the State of Tamil Nadu, where the limit for generation of e-way is ₹ 1,00,000/-. They have also informed that their submissions have been drafted considering the Notification No. 9, dated May 31, 2018 as notified by the Commissioner of state Tax under TNGST Act, 2017 & TNGST Rules, 2017 by virtue of which e-way bill is not required to be generated for intra-State supplies within the State of Tamil Nadu for invoices up to the value of ₹ 1,00,000/-.

2.1 The submissions of the applicant in the ARA application are given below :

• Under Rule 138(7) of CGST Rules, 2017 “Where the consignor or the consignee has not generated the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01 and the aggregate of the consignment value of goods carried in the conveyance is more than fifty thousand rupees (One Lakh rupees in T.N.), the transporter, except in case of transportation of goods by railways, air and vessel, shall, in respect of inter-State supply, generate the e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-01 on the basis of invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be, and may also generate a consolidated e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-02 on the common portal prior to the movement of goods”
• As per the said rule, in cases where there are multiple consignors and consignee, e-way bill is not required to be generated by the consignors if the value of the goods supplied by every consignor is less than the prescribed limits. In such situations, the transporter is liable to generate and e-way bill as per Rule 138(7) of CGST Rules, 2017. However, the provisions under Rule 138(7) have not yet been notified as per the press release by the press information bureau dated 10th March, 2018. As a result, there is no requirement to generate e-way bill by the transporter even if the aggregate value of such consignment is above the limit of ₹ 1,00,000/-.
• As per Rule 138(1) of E-Way bill rules, “Every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees” is required to generate an e-way bill. This limit is one Lakh rupees for intra-State movement in Tamil Nadu.
• As per explanation 2 for the said rule – “For the purposes of this rule, the consignment value of goods shall be the value, determined in accordance with the provisions of Section 15, declared in an invoice, a bill of supply or a delivery challan, as the case may be, issued in respect of the said consignment and also includes the central tax, State or Union territory tax, integrated tax and cess charged, if any, in the document and shall exclude the value of exempt supply of goods where the invoice is issued in respect of both exempt and taxable supply of goods”.
• On interpretation of the rule along with the explanation, it can be construed that the ‘consignment value refers to the value of each invoice in the consignment. As a result, it shall result in non-generation of e-way bill if the value of the invoice is less than ₹ 1,00,000/-. Thus, it appears that the limit of ₹ 1,00,000/- generation of e-way bill is as per invoice basis and hence, e-way bill shall not be required in a consignment consisting of goods pertaining to multiple invoices, provided that the value of each invoice is less than the prescribed limits.

2.2 In view of the above submissions, the applicant is of the view that the limit of ₹ 1,00,000/- on the consignment value is on a per invoice basis and therefore e-way bill shall not be required in cases of transportation of goods pertaining to multiple invoices where each invoice value is less than the prescribed limit.

3.   The applicant was personally heard on the .matter on 22-5-2019. The Authorised representative of the applicant appeared before the authority and stated that they are using own transportation and wanted clarification of whether in case of multiple consignments in a conveyance, each having below ₹ 1 Lakh invoice/ consignment value there is a request to generator e-way bill. It was informed to the applicant that Advance Ruling do not cover e-wåy bill provision and clarification may be obtained from Jurisdictional GST office.

4.   The Advance ruling sought is whether e-way bill is required for consignments pertaining to multiple invoices to multiple customers moved in the same conveyance, in which value of each invoice is less than the limits for generation of e-way bill but in aggregate, the value of the multiple invoices exceeds the specified limit.

5.   Section 97(2) of the CGST Act/Tamil Nadu GST Act (TNGST) gives the scope of Advance Ruling Authority, i.e., the question on which the Advance Ruling can be sought. For ease of reference, the section is reproduced as under :

97(2) The question on which the advance ruling is sought under this Act, shall be in respect of, –

   (a)   classification of any goods or services or both;

(b)   applicability of a notification issued under the provisions of this Act;

(c)   determination of time and value of supply of goods or services or both;

(d)   admissibility of input tax credit of tax paid or deemed to have been paid;

(e)  determination of the liability to pay tax on any goods or services or both;

(f)   whether applicant is required to be registered;

(g)   whether any particular thing done by the applicant with respect to any goods or services or both amounts to or results in a supply of goods or services or both, within the meaning of that term.

The Act limits the Advance Ruling Authority to decide the issues earmarked for it under Section 97(2) and no other issue can be decided by the Advance Ruling Authority. The issue for which Advance Ruling is sought depends on the ‘Provisions of e-way bill’, which is not in the ambit of this authority. The Application is therefore rejected without going into the merits of the case, on the issue of lack of jurisdiction.

6.   In view of the above, we rule as under

RULING

7.   The Advance Ruling sought vide application dated 15-3-2019 by M/s. Tamil Nadu Edible Oils Private Limited is rejected under Section 98(2) of the CGST/TNGST Act, 2017, as the question on which ruling is sought do not fall in the ambit of Section 97(2) of the CGST Act, 2017 and the TNGST Act, 2017.