The implementation of GST in India has brought significant changes to the taxation system, one of which is the introduction of e-way bills when transporting goods inter or intra-state. In this complete guide to e-way bills, we will discuss the key aspects of e-way bills, including the following:
An E-Way Bill is a mandatory document that all transporters need to carry when they are transporting goods with a value greater than ₹50,000. The transport can be inter-state or intra-state. E-Way bills contain details of the goods being transported, the consignor, the recipient as well as the transporter.
Certain updates have been made to the above rules, as follows:
An E-Way Bill is divided into 2 parts – Part A and Part B. Both these parts contain information that needs to be entered by the person generating the E-way bill.
The following details are required in Part A:
Part B only contains the registration number of the vehicle transporting the goods.
Apart from the above, there is also information that is auto-generated at the time of generating e-way bills. These details are:
A valid E-Way bill with all the required details mentioned above must be generated for the following events:
The following situations necessitate the generation of an E-way bill by a person who has a GST registration and is undertaking the transportation of goods:
In the two cases mentioned below, an e-way bill is required even if the consignment value does not exceed ₹50,000:
The following methods are available to the supplier or the carrier for creating the E-way bill:
The GST E-Way Portal allows for the creation of e-way bills. You must be registered as a transporter and under GST to utilise the platform.
Once the e-way bill is generated, the e-way bill number is provided to all parties: the recipient, the supplier and the transporter.
Form GST EWB-01 is the document that needs to be carried by the transporter moving goods worth more than ₹50,000. Information regarding who needs to fill the form and when are provided below:
No. | Who needs to fill? | When to fill? | Which part to fill? |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Registered Person | Before transfer of goods | Part A |
2 | Registered Person i.e. supplier or recipient. The transport vehicle can be either owned or hired. | Before transfer of goods | Part B |
3 | Registered Person i.e. supplier or recipient when the goods are handed over to the transporter | Before transfer of goods | Part B |
4 | Transporter of goods | Before transfer of goods | Part A |
5 | Unregistered Person if the recipient is GST registered | If transport is by air, sea or rail | Part A |
To know more, you can read our detailed guide to how to generate an e-way bill .
Documents needed to generate an e-way bill are:
An e-way bill’s validity is determined by its generated date and time. Based on the distance the items have travelled, an e-way bill is valid for the duration specified below:
The validity of an e-way bill may also be extended. To extend the validity of an e-way bill, the generator must do so either eight hours before or eight hours after the bill’s expiration.
An e-way bill is not required in the following situations:
Since its implementation started on 1 April 2018, there has been an increase in the production of e-way bills for interstate-transit commodities. With all States and Union Territories joining the league in the generation of e-way bills for the movement of products inside the State/UT, the state-by-state deployment of the e-way bill system has had a good response.
However, several states have given their citizens respite by exempting them from the creation of e-way bills if their financial constraints fall below a threshold amount or in the case of specific designated things. For instance, Tamil Nadu has exempted its residents from generating e-way bills if the item’s price is less than Rs. 1 lakh.
E-way bill is a document used to track the movement of goods, prevent tax evasion, and guarantee that commodities being transported adhere to the GST Law. Since the advent of e-way bills, documenting transactions has become much more streamlined.
There are multiple ways to generate e-way bills, but the fastest and most convenient way is to use an e-way bill generation software like BUSY. After a quick one-time setup, you can auto-generate e-way bills in just a few clicks, even when you need to generate them in bulk.