India GST: What is E-way Bill system?

All about E-Way Bill System

Electronic Way Bill System is implemented in India with the purpose of consignment or movement of goods from one place to another, from a consignor(seller) to a consignee(buyer) abiding the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regulation.

The government in India has successfully rolled-out the implementation of the e-Way Bill system on the 1st of April 2008 to track goods movement within the country and also to monitor tax evasions.

Some of the benefits of implementing the e-Way bill system in India are to provide seamless movement of goods within various states in India, improve on the current logistics, reduce transportation costs, and lastly, to help transporter save time by switching to online portals update from physical check-posts.

When should E-Way Bill be generated?

Before the movement goods from one place to another place, either interstate or intrastate, the e-way Bill should be generated, with the value above INR 50,000 (either individual invoice or consolidated invoices with multiple consignments).

The supplier, recipient, and transporter will receive a unique e-way bill number once the e-way Bill is generated.

Who should generate the E-Way Bill?

1. For GST registered business:

a) Any movement of goods or consignments using the consignee or consignor vehicles, or hired vehicles either by ship or by air, the registered person or the recipient should generate the e-way Bill in the Form GST EWB-01 electronically.

b) The transporter would need to generate the Bill if the registered person who caused and hand over the goods to them did not create the e-way Bill beforehand. The registered person will have to fill in the transporter's information in Part B in the Form GST EWB before the carrier can generate the e-Way Bill.

2. For unregistered business:

a) The unregistered or transporter can generate the e-way Bill when the unregistered person causes the movement of goods, either through his/her conveyance or hired conveyance, or using the service from the transporter.

b) If an unregistered person supplies products to the registered person, the registered party will need to generate the e-way Bill.