What is an e-way bill?
An electronic way bill or ‘e-way
bill’ system offers the technological framework to track intra-state as well as
inter-state movements of goods of value exceeding Rs 50,000, for sales beyond
10 km in the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Under the e-way bill
system, there will be no need for a separate transit pass for every state — one
e-way bill will be valid throughout the country for the movement of goods.
According to notified e-way bill
rules, every registered supplier will require prior online registration on the
e-way bill portal for the movement of these goods. The rules also specify that
the permits would be valid for one day for the movement of goods for 100 km,
and in the same proportion for following days. Tax officials will have the
power to scrutinise the e-way bill at any point during transit to check tax
evasion.
Any
supplier/recipient/transporter can generate an e-way bill. Once this is
generated, there will be no need to fill the requisite information in the GST
return, as there will be an automated filing of GSTR-1 (which records the
details of sales made by a seller to a buyer). A unique e-way bill number (EBN)
as well as a QR code will be generated for tracking. Digital facilities via
SMS/Android apps
will also be provided for the generation of e-way bills. The National
Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed a separate portal for the e-way bill.
What is the current status at
the state-level over the e-way bill?
Ten states have started trial
runs of the e-way bill system. Karnataka implemented the system in September
2017, followed by Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Kerala. Six more states — Haryana,
Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Sikkim and Jharkhand — started trial runs for
e-way bills on Tuesday.
Do any exemptions apply to
e-way bills?
The GST Council exempted 154
items of common use, such as meat, fish, curd, vegetables and some cereals,
human blood, LPG for households and kerosene for the Public Distribution System
(PDS). The system will not be applicable on goods being transported by
non-motorised conveyance, and where goods are transported from the port,
airport, air cargo complex and land Customs stations to an inland container
depot or a container freight station for Customs clearance.
Are there concerns from
industry?
Trade and industry have raised
concerns about the system being a possible route for the re-emergence of supply
chain bottlenecks, and discretionary power to tax officials. The industry views
the e-way bill as a system that will check tax evasion to some extent, but may
not be able to stop it completely. Also, it adds another layer of compliances
for GST payers and, in case of technical glitches, may result in supply chain
bottlenecks.
The government has highlighted
the powers provided to transporters in the e-way bill rules to report detention
of vehicles beyond 30 minutes on the portal. Also, the e-way bill rules
facilitate online reporting of inspection and verification of documents.
Potential Benefits?
Logistical speed-breakers cost
the Indian economy an extra $45 billion or 4.3 per cent of GDP every year, a
McKinsey report says. The LPI Survey by World Bank in 2014 put logistics costs
at 14 per cent of the total value of goods in India, while it is only 6-8 per
cent in other major countries. The GST E-way bill combination was expected to
trim logistics costs by 20 per cent.
Therefore, any change in the
system that brings about even small benefits is to be welcomed.
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