Modification of the procedure for interception of conveyances for inspection of goods in movement, and detention, release and confiscation of such goods and conveyances, as clarified in Trade Circular Nos.14T of 2018 dated 23.04.2018 and 35T of 2018 dated 3rd December 2018. - GST - States - 36T of 2018

Office of the Commissioner of State Tax. Maharashtra State, 8 th Floor, GST Bhavan, Mazgaon, Mumbai-400 010. TRADE CIRCULAR No. JC (HQ)-1/GST/2018/NOTI1/E-way Bill/ADM-8 dated 3rd December 2018. Trade Circular No. 36T of 2018. To, .. .. Subject: Modification of the procedure for interception of conveyances for inspection of goods in movement, and detention, release and confiscation of such goods and conveyances, as clarified in Trade Circular Nos.14T of 2018 dated 23.04.2018 and 35T of 2018 dated 3rd December 2018. Ref. (1) Notification No. JC (HQ)-1/GST/2018/ NOTI /E-way Bill/ ADM-8 issued by the Commissioner dated the 3rd April 2018, to designate certain Joint Commissioner(s) of State Tax as Empowered Officer . (2) Notification No. JC (HQ)-1/GST/2018/NOT1/E-way Bill/ ADM-8 dated the 7th April 2018 to designate the Assistant Commissioner(s) of State and Deputy Commissioner(s) State Tax, as the proper officer . (3) Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST dated 13th April 2018 issued by the CBIC. (4) Trade Circular No. 14T of 2018 dated 23rd April 2018. (5) Circular No. 49/23/2018-GST dated 21st June 2018 issued by the CBIC. (6) Trade Circular No. 35T of 2018 dated 3rd December 2018.. (7) Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST dated 14th September 2018 issued by the CBIC. Sir/ Gentlemen / Madam, 1. Kind attention is invited to Trade Circular No. 14T of 2018 dated 23 rd April 2018 as amended by Circular No. 35T of 2018 dated 3rd December 2018 vide which the procedure for interception of conveyances for inspection of goods in movement, and detention, release and confiscation of such goods and conveyances was specified. 2. Various representations have been received regarding imposition of penalty in case of minor discrepancies in the details mentioned in the e-way bill although there are no major lapses in the invoices accompanying the goods in movement. The matter has been examined. In order to clarify this issue and to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions of the law across the field formations, the Commissioner of State tax, Maharashtra State, in exercise of its powers conferred under section 168 of the Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the MGST Act ) hereby clarifies the said issue hereunder. 3. Section 68 of the MGST Act read with rule 138A of the Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the MGST Rules ) requires that the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding ₹ 50,000/- should carry a copy of documents viz., invoice/ bill of supply/delivery challan/bill of entry and a valid e-way bill in physical or electronic form for verification. In case such person does not carry the mentioned documents, there is no doubt that a contravention of the provisions of the law takes place and the provisions of section 129 and section 130 of the MGST Act are invocable. Further, it may be noted that the non-furnishing of information in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01 amounts to the e-way bill becoming not a valid document for the movement of goods by road as per Explanation (2) to rule 138(3) of the MGST Rules, except in the case where the goods are transported for a distance of upto fifty kilometres within the State or Union territory to or from the place of business of the transporter to the place of business of the consignor or the consignee, as the case may be. 4. Whereas, section 129 of the MGST Act provides for detention and seizure of goods and conveyances and their release on the payment of requisite tax and penalty in cases where such goods are transported in contravention of the provisions of the MGST Act or the rules made thereunder. It has been informed that proceedings under section 129 of the MGST Act are being initiated for every mistake in the documents mentioned in para 3 above. It is clarified that in case a consignment of goods is accompanied by an invoice or any other specified document and not an e-way bill, proceedings under section 129 of the MGST Act may be initiated. 5. Further, in case a consignment of goods is accompanied with an invoice or any other specified document and also an e-way bill, proceedings under section 129 of the MGST Act may not be initiated, inter alia, in the following situations: 5.1 Spelling mistakes in the name of the consignor or the consignee but the GSTIN, wherever applicable, is correct; 5.2 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; 5.3 Error in the address of the consignee to the extent that the locality and other details of the consignee are correct; 5.4 Error in one or two digits of the document number mentioned in the e-way bill; 5.5 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; 5.6 Error in one or two digits/characters of the vehicle number. 6. In case of the above situations, penalty to the tune of ₹ 500/- each under section 125 of the MGST Act and the respective State GST Act should be imposed (Rs. 1000/- under the IGST Act) in FORM GST DRC-07 for every consignment. A record of all such consignments where proceedings under section 129 of the MGST Act have not been invoked in view of the situations listed in paragraph 5 above shall be sent by the proper officer to his controlling officer on a weekly basis. 7. Difficulties, if any, in implementation of the above instructions may be brought to the notice of the Commissioner State Tax at an early date. Yours faithfully, (Rajiv Jalota) Commissioner of State Tax, (GST) Maharashtra State, Mumbai. No. JC (HQ)-1/GST/2018/NOTI/E-way Bill/ADM-8 dated. 03-12-2018 Trade Circular No.36 T of 2018.