GST E-Way Bill is a lately introduced technique for keeping a track of goods in transit introduced under the Goods and Services Tax. Any taxable individual registered under Goods & services tax and causing movement of consignment with worth of more than Rs.50,000 is obligatory to produce a GST E-Way Bill through the GST Common Portal.
What exactly is the GST E-Way Bill?
The GST [Goods and service tax] E-Way Bill is a document that is announced under the GST [Goods and service tax] plan for any sort of goods transport of load worth more than 50,000 Rupees.
Any individual having a GST registration and transporting goods for any of the below-given reasons is liable to produce a GST E-Way Bill:
- In relation to a supply;
In case a person who is liable to pay tax under the GST provides any kind of goods holding the worth of more than Rs.50,000, then a GST E-Way Bill is required to be generated.
- Reasons other than supply;
In case a person who is liable to pay tax under the GST plan moves goods from one storage space to the other and the goods hold a value above Rs.50,000, then a GST E-Way Bill is necessary to be generated.
- Because of inward supply from an unregistered individual.
In case a person who is liable to pay tax under GST scheme acquires any commodities from an individual who is not registered under GST and the total consignment value exceeds Rs.50,000, then a GST E-Way Bill should be generated.
Who can Generate GST E-Way Bill?
The GST E-Way Bill can be generated by the following categories of individuals:
- who pays tax registered with GST,
- a transporter
- An individual who is not registered under GST utilizing the GST Common Portal.
- For GST Registration Holders
In case a tax paying person is registered under the Goods and service tax requires goods transportation service using personal vehicle or the hired one as a seller or to be received in course of trade as a beneficiary, the taxable person can produce an E-Way Bill in Form GST INS-1 by electronic means through the GST Common Portal. The person requires providing all the details that are requested in Part B of FORM GST INS-01.
- For Transfer by Transporters
In case a transporter is engaged in some Goods transport, then the taxpaying individual who is registered under the GST is required to get details about the consignment in Part B of FORM GST INS-01 on the GST Common Portal. By the use of these details, the transporter or the service provider would then produce a GST E-Way Bill on account of the details provided by taxable individual in Part A of FORM GST INS-01. The transporters have the permission to generate as well as carry an E-Way bill even if the goods hold the value that is less than Rs.50,000.
- For Transport by Unregistered Persons
Any unregistered individual moving goods to a tax paying person under GST can also create a GST e-way bill in FORM GST INS-01 through the GST Common Portal.
How to Generate GST E-Way Bill or EBN?
The GST E-Way Bill can easily be created through the assistance of GST Common Portal by a tax paying individual who is registered with the GST, an individual who is not registered or some transport service provider.
On the submission of required credentials for the GST Common Portal in FORM GST INS-01, a unique EBN (e-way bill number) would be given to the provider, the receiver and the transporter as well.
Any tax paying individual who is registered would be informed about the matter of a GST E-Way Bill or E-way bill number on the common GST portal. The registered person would hold the choice to agree with or refuse the shipment covered under the e-way bill.
In case a taxable person who is registered under goods and service tax does not make a statement of acceptance or rejection within the duration of 3 days of the information provided regarding the GST Common Portal, then the Bill would be taken as accepted. As a final point, all the accepted GST E-Way Bills would be prepared to accept mechanically on the GSTR-1 at the time of filing monthly GST Returns.
In case an unregistered person creates a E-way Bill, then the status of Bill would be texted to the registered contact number or else to the registered email address of the unregistered person.
- Validity of GST EWay Bill
The GST EWay bill validity completely depends on the distance to which the consignment has to be transported. For instance, a GST e-way bill that is produced for goods transport for below 100 km is considered valid for a day.
The below-given table defines the GST bill validity together with the distance given on the GST e-way bill.
GST E-way bill Validity
| 1000 km or more | 15 Days |
| Less than 100 km | 1 Day |
| 500km or More –but–Less than 1000 km | 10 Days |
| 100 km or more—but—less than 300 km | 3 Days |
| 300 km or more—but—less than 500 km | 5 Days |
- Cancelling a GST EWay Bill
Once the GST E-Way Bill is created but the consignment was not moved or will not be moved, then the bill can easily be cancelled through the GST common portal or with the help of a GST Facilitation Centre within a day of generation of the e-way bill.
Why GST EWay Bill is Required?
The tracking of shifting and storage of the consignment is the key to minimize tax revenue outflow for the Government and decreasing black-market goods. Therefore, getting registered under goods and service tax has been made compulsory for all the warehouses, transporters and godowns.
To track goods while their transportation, the mechanism of GST e-way bill has been initiated by the Indian Government. Therefore, any of the transporter moving products is necessary to create a new e-way bill on the GST common portal in FORM GST INS-01 showing all details as well as the mode of transport.
- Credentials needed for Transport under GST
Adding more to the GST E-Way Bill, an individual in-charge of delivery of goods is necessary to have the below-mentioned documents for the purpose of assessment by higher authorities at any point of time:
- The delivery challan or Bill of supply and invoice reference number through the GST common portal, acquired by uploading the copy of GST tax invoice given in FORM GST INV-1.
- Copy of e-way bill or its number. It can be either physical or else mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) that is rooted on to the means of transport used.
- GST E-Way Bill Rules
The Draft for GST E-Way Bill regulations has been notified by the authorities. On the other hand, the finalized regulations have not been informed. The GST E-way Bill and e-way bill generation mechanism through the GST common portal is estimated to be introduced soon.