E-Way Bill Simple Compliance

[DKSK ASSOCIATES]

What is E-way bill

In pursuance of Section 68 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act 2017 (hereinafter referred as “CGST Act”),  whosoever causes movement of goods for an amount exceeding 50,000/- rupees will be required to generate E-way bill (Electronic Way Bill) which will be valid for transporting goods across India.  

Who all are required to generate E-Way Bill 

Every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees in the following cases : 

• in relation to outward supply or reasons other than supply;
• or towards inward supply from unregistered person

Exception : In case goods are moved by Principal to a job worker from one state to another, then e-way bill is required irrespective of the value of the consignment. 

Validity of E-way Bill

The e-way bill is valid depending on the distance it covers (Pin code to Pin code)  i.e for every 100 kms or part thereof, it is valid for one day ( i,e till midnight of the last day) and in case of over dimensional cargo, it will be valid for 1 day ( i,e till midnight of the last day) for every 20 kms or part thereof. 

Link to verify Pin to Pin Distance :  https://ewaybillgst.gov.in/Others/P2PDistance.aspx

llustration 1 : e-way bill generated on April 14, 2020 at 3.00 pm for transport of cargo which will cover a distance of 80 kms.  This e-way bill will be valid for one day (till mid night of April 15, 2020);

Illustration 2 : e-way bill generated on April 14, 2020 at 3.00 pm for transport of cargo which will cover a distance of 190 kms. This e-way bill will be valid for two days (till mid night of April 16^th 2020)

Extension of validity : The validity of e-way bill can be extended only in case of exceptional nature ( vehicle breakdown, accident, law and order issue etc). The validity can be extended either before 8 hours or after 8 hours of expiry.  For example if the validity of the e-way bill is till midnight of the 2^nd October , then the same can be extended between 4.00 pm of 2^nd October and 8.00 am of 3^rd October.  The validity will get extended based on the remaining distance to travel i.e based on 100 Kms or 20 Kms whichever is applicable.

Modes of generating E-way bill

Website : E-way bill can be generated from Website www.ewaybill.gov.in

Mobile application : From the website, the user has to register his handset with its IMEI No, and after OTP verification of the registered No, a link will be received for downloading the app.  This option can be activated from the drop down menu → “Registration”  - “For Mobile” in the e-way bill portal.

Employees : The e-way bill also has the facility to add sub-users giving them limited rights only to generate or reject e-way bill and to view the reports. This option can be activated from the drop down menu  → “User Management” – “Create Sub-user” in the e-way bill portal. For every place of business maximum 3 sub users can be created. 

Important points while generating E-way Bill

The part A & part B of the e-way bill is important for movement of goods. The goods cannot be moved based on part – A alone, part B is also mandatory for moving the goods.   In few cases, the part B is not required ,one of which is mentioned herewith : 

• where the goods are transported for a distance of upto fifty kilometers within the State from the place of business of the consignor to the place of business of the transporter for further transportation. 

The part A of e-way bill cannot be modified, the only option will be to cancel the same and raise a new one. Only part B of the e-way bill can be amended in regard with change of vehicle or transport details. 

For every invoice only one e-way bill can be generated. 

Multiple Vehicles : When the tax payer or transporter wants to move the consignment of one e-Way Bill in multiple vehicles, after moving to transshipment place, he can use the “Change to Multi Vehicle” sub-option provided under e-Way Bill option in the main menu. The e-way bill should always reflect the current vehicle in which the goods are moving.

For example, let’s say one e-Way Bill is generated to move the consignment from place A to place C. Here, the consignment moves from A to B via Rail or a bigger vehicle. Now, it is not possible to move the consignment from B to C in the same mode of transportation due to unavailability of the same mode or may be due to hilly region where big vehicles cannot be used. In such cases, the consignment can be moved in multiple smaller vehicles using the “Multi-Vehicle option” from the drop down menu.

Value : The value of the goods has to be inserted mandatorily, no matter for what purpose the goods are moving out. The value either has to be the cost value of such goods or the market value of the goods. In case the goods are moving out for rent or job work or similar transaction, the value of the job work or the lease charges will not be inserted, it has to be the value of the goods. 

In case the invoice value consists of both, goods and service element, then in such cases only the goods value has to be entered in the e-way bill and not the value of the service.

Points in regard with Specific Transactions

No Supply : Where the recipient is unknown at the time the goods are dispatched from suppliers premises, i.e the customers are not identified by the supplier,  then in such cases e-way bill has to be generated on self by using the option of  “outward supply”, “ recipient not known” in the e-way bill generation option.  The document type will be Delivery challan in these kind of transactions.

Exports :  While generating e-way bill in the case of exports, the place of destination has to be upto the place of port from where the goods will be exported. 

Multiple Consignments / SKD/CKD/Lots :  As per the rule 55(5), one has to issue one single tax invoice and multiple delivery challans for the complete quantity that is being moved in batches or lots. Delivery challan has to be prepared vehicle wise in which the goods will be transported in lots, every DC should give reference to the main invoice. 

With each vehicle, there will be a delivery challan , an individual e-way bill and a certified true copy of the main invoice.  However, the last batch or lot should have the original invoice along with delivery challan and e-way bill.

On the e-way bill portal, one has to select “SKD/CKD/Lots” sub-supply type to generate the e-way bill for these kinds of batches and lots, with delivery challan details.

Sales Returns : In case the customer rejects the goods, then either the transporter or the supplier can generate one more e-way bill under the head of “Inward supply” - “Sales return”

Bill to-ship to :  In few cases, the tax payer raises the bill to somebody and sends the consignment to somebody else as per the business requirements.

In the e-way bill form, there are two portions under outward supply section. On the left hand side - ‘Billing To’ , the GSTIN and trade name is entered and on the right hand side - ‘Ship to’ address of the destination of the movement is entered. The other details are entered as per the invoice.

In case ship to state is different from Bill to State, the tax components are entered as per the billing state party. That is, if the “Bill to” location is inter-state for the supplier, IGST is entered and if the “Bill to” location is intra-state for the supplier, the SGST and CGST are entered irrespective of movement of goods whether movement happened within the state or outside the state.

Bill from – Dispatch from : Sometimes, the supplier prepares the bill from his business premises to consignee, but moves the consignment from some others’ premises to the consignee as per the business requirements. This is known as ‘Billing From’ and ‘Dispatching From’.

E-way bill system has provision for this. In the e-way bill form, there are two portions under ‘FROM’ section. In the left hand side - ‘Bill From’ supplier’s GSTIN and trade name are entered and in the right hand side - ‘Dispatch From’, address of the dispatching place is entered.

In case Bill From location State is different from the State of Dispatch the Tax components are entered as per the State (Bill From). That is, if the billing party is inter-state for the supplier, IGST is entered and if the billing party is intra-state for the supplier, the SGST and CGST are entered irrespective of movement of goods whether movement happened within state or outside the state.

Validation/ verification of E-way bill

The authenticity of the E-way bill can be verified in any of the following ways

Website : link : https://ewaybillgst.gov.in/Others/EBPrintnew.aspx

Phone : 77382 99899 be send SMS in the format of (EWBVER 120100261565)

Useful Tips

My Masters : EWB system has an option to enter the masters of user , client master, supplier master, transporter master and product master. If user creates these masters, it will simplify the process of generation of e-way bill. That is, the system will auto populate the details like trade/legal name, GSTIN, address on typing few character of client or supplier, HSN Code, tax rates etc. It also avoids data entry mistakes by operator while keying in the details.

Reports :  The system only provides the reports for every single day, hence it will be advisable that every week clients can download reports and consolidate them, this will help in reconciling the monthly returns to be filed i.e. 3B and GSTR 1 with the E-way Bill. 

Recipient of E-way bill

In few cases the recipient will be deemed to have received the goods, when someone might have in-correctly entered the details of the recipient in the e-way bill and has not deleted the same, in such cases the recipient will have 72 hrs of time to delete the same.

Penalty in case of violation of the e-way bill rules.

In accordance with section 129, if there is contravention in the generation of e-way bill with invoice or delivery challan details, the penalty is equivalent to 100% of tax. At the time of detention of vehicle, the tax along with penalty has to be paid in cash through DRC 03 for releasing the goods.

However in case of these minor violations, the penalty will be 1,000/- rupees in accordance to Circular No 64/38/2018 Dated September 14^th 2018.

• Spelling mistakes in the name of the consignor or the consignee but the GSTIN, wherever applicable, is correct;

• Error in the pin-code but the address of the consignor and the consignee mentioned is correct, subject to the condition that the error in the PIN code should not have the effect of increasing the validity period of the e-way bill;

• Error in the address of the consignee to the extent that the locality and other details of the consignee are correct;

• Error in one or two digits of the document number mentioned in the e-way bill;

• Error in 4 or 6 digit level of HSN where the first 2 digits of HSN are correct and the rate of tax mentioned is correct;

• Error in one or two digits/characters of the vehicle number

Hence it becomes imperative to generate e-way bill carefully and correctly. It is always advisable that one person who generates the e-way bill the person should check the same with the invoice before the goods are dispatched.

Blocking/Un-blocking of E-way bill

In accordance with the recent rule 138E, when a taxpayer fails to file GSTR-3B and GSTR-1 or CMP-08 in case of composition dealers for two or more consecutive months or quarters respectively, the same will be communicated to the e-way bill system and block the facility of generating the e-way bill for movement of goods.

The only option or recourse will be to file the respective returns and then the assessee will have to click on the below link to again un-block the e-way bill portal and start using the facility.

Link : https://ewaybill.nic.in/Others/GstnIsBlock.aspx

On opening the link the assessee has to enter the GST No and then has to click on the option of “Update Un-block  status from GST common portal”, once the same is done, then the e-way bill will be active for use again.

Hope this article will be informative to you and finds you in good health.

Disclaimer : The information is only for informative purpose in case you need to take any action based on the above information, it will be advisable to consult your legal consultant for acting on the same.