Basic E-way rules and FAQ

E-way bill will become compulsory from April 1, 2018. Tax payers have to generate E-way bill for consignment value exceeding Rs. 50,000.

This article will cover common issues faced by taxpayers.

What is an E Way Bill?

E-way bill (FORM GST EWB-01) is an electronic document (available to supplier / recipient / transporter) generated on the common portal evidencing movement of goods of consignment value more than Rs. 50000/-. It has two Components-Part A comprising of details of GSTIN of supplier & recipient, place of delivery (indicating PIN Code also), document (Tax invoice, Bill of Supply, Delivery Challan or Bill of Entry) number and date, value of goods, HSN code, and reasons for transportation; and Part B –comprising of transport details - transport document number (Goods Receipt Number or Railway Receipt Number or Airway Bill Number or Bill of Lading Number) and Vehicle number for road.

What is consignment value?

The consignment value of goods shall be the value, determined in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of the CGST Act, 2017, declared in an invoice, a bill of supply or a delivery challan, as the case may be, issued in respect of the said consignment and also includes the central tax, State or Union territory tax, integrated tax and cess charged, if any, in the document.

Whether consignment value of goods shall include tax also? In case of movement other than by way of supply, value may not be available? How to value such cases?

As per Explanation 2 to Rule 138(1) of CGST Rules, 2017, the consignment value shall also include the Central tax, State or Union territory tax, integrated tax and cess charged, if any, in the document. Furthermore, in view of the valuation provisions in Section 15 of the CGST Act, 2017, Customs duty shall also be includible in the value of goods. In case of movement of goods for reasons other than supply, the movement would be occasioned by means of a delivery challan which is a mandatory document. The delivery challan has to necessarily contain the value of goods as per Rule 55 of the CGST Rules, 2017. The value given in the delivery challan should be adopted in the e-way bill.

Whether E-way bill need to be generated for all movements of goods?

E-way bill is not required to be generated in the following cases:

1. Transport of goods as specified in Annexure to Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017 which is reproduced below:
   1. Liquefied petroleum gas for supply to household and non-domestic exempted category (NDEC) customers
   2. Kerosene oil sold under PDS
   3. Postal baggage transported by Department of Posts
   4. Natural or cultured pearls and precious or semi-precious stones; precious metals and metals clad with precious metal (Chapter 71)
   5. Jewellery, goldsmiths’ and silversmiths’ wares and other articles (Chapter 71)
   6. Currency
   7. Used personal and household effects
   8. Coral, unworked (0508) and worked coral (9601)
2. Goods being transported by a non-motorised conveyance;
3. Goods being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs; and
4. In respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under rule 138(14) (d) of the SGST Rules, 2017 of the concerned State.
5. Where the goods, other than de-oiled cake, being transported are specified in the Schedule appended to notification No. 2/2017- Central tax (Rate) dated the 28th June, 2017
6. Where the goods being transported are alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel; and
7. Where the goods being transported are treated as no supply under Schedule III of the Act.

Who should generate e-way bill?

An e-way bill contains two parts- Part A to be furnished by the registered person who is causing movement of goods of consignment value exceeding Rs. 50,000/- and part B (transport details) is to be furnished by the person who is transporting the goods.

Where the goods are transported by a registered person-whether as consignor or recipient, the said person shall have to generate the e-way bill (by furnishing information in part B on the common portal) Where the e-way is not generated by registered person and the goods are handed over to the transporter, for transportation of goods by road, the registered person shall furnish the information relating to the transporter in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01 on the common portal and the e-way bill shall be generated by the transporter on the said portal on the basis of the information furnished by the registered person in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01.

In a nutshell, E-way bill is to be generated by the consignor or consignee himself (if the transportation is being done in own/hired conveyance or by railways by air or by Vessel) or the transporter (if the goods are handed over to a transporter for transportation by road). Where neither the consignor nor consignee generates the e-way bill and the value of goods is more than Rs. 50,000/- it shall be the responsibility of the transporter to generate it.

In case the goods to be transported are supplied through an e-commerce operator, the information in Part A may be furnished by such ecommerce operator.

Is it mandatory to generate e-way bill? What if not done? What are the consequences for non-issuance of e-way bill?

It is mandatory to generate e-way bill in all cases where the value of consignment of goods being transported is more than 50,000/- and it is not otherwise exempted in terms of Rule 138(14) of CGST Rules, 2017.

Further no e-way bill is required to be generated in respect of goods being transported by a non-motorised conveyance; goods being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs; and in respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under rule 138(14) (d) of the SGST Rules, 2017 of the concerned State.

If e-way bills, wherever required, are not issued in accordance with the provisions contained in Rule 138, the same will be considered as contravention of rules. As per Section 122(1)(xiv) of CGST Act, 2017, a taxable person who transports any taxable goods without the cover of specified documents (e-way bill is one of the specified documents) shall be liable to a penalty of Rs. 10,000/- or tax sought to be evaded (wherever applicable) whichever is greater.

Moreover, as per Section 129(1) of CGST Act, 2017, where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the Rules made thereunder, all such goods and conveyance used as a means of transport for carrying the said goods and documents relating to such goods and conveyance shall be liable to detention or seizure.

Whether an unregistered transporter need to compulsorily enroll on the eway bill system?

Yes, in terms of Rule 58 of the CGST Rules, 2017 read with section 35(2) of the CGST Act, 2017, a transporter and operator of godown or warehouse, if not already registered, shall have to enrol on the common portal by filing GST ENR-01.

The transporter enrolled in any one State or UT shall be deemed to be enrolled in other States as well.

The unregistered transporter gets a transporter Id when he enrols on the system.

Can the e-way bill be cancelled if the goods are not transported after generation of e-way bill?

Where an e-way bill has been generated, but goods are either not being transported or are not being transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill may be cancelled electronically on the common portal, either directly or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner, within 24 hours of generation of the e-way bill. However, if the e-way has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138 B of the CGST Rules, 2017, the same cannot be cancelled.

How does transporter come to know that particular e-way bill has been assigned to him?

The transporter comes to know the EWBs assigned to him by the taxpayers for transportation, in one of the following ways:

• The transporter can go to reports section and select ‘EWB assigned to me for trans’ and see the list.
• The transporter can go to ‘Update Vehicle No’ and select ‘Generator GSTIN’ option and enter taxpayer GSTIN, who has assigned or likely to assign the EWBs to him.
• The tax payer can contact and inform the transporter that the particular EWB is assigned to him.

I have already registered in GST Portal. Whether I need to register again on the eWay Portal?

Yes. All the registered persons under GST need to register on the portal of e-way bill namely: www.ewaybillgst.gov.in using his GSTIN. Once GSTIN is entered, the system sends an OTP to his registered mobile number, registered with GST Portal and after authenticating the same, the system enables him to generate his/her username and password for the e-way bill system. After generation of username and password of his/her choice, he/she may proceed to make entries to generate e-way bill.

What is TRANSIN or Transporter ID?

TRANSIN or Transporter id is 15 digit unique number generated by EWB system for unregistered transporter, once he enrolls on the system which is similar to GSTIN format and is based on state code, PAN and Check sum digit. This TRANSIN or Transporter id can be shared by transporter with his clients, who may enter this number while generating e-waybills for assigning goods to him for transportation.

How is the validity of the e-way bill calculated?

The validity period of the EWB is calculated based on the ‘approx. distance’ entered while generating the EWB. For every 100 Kms one day is a validity period for EWB as per rule and for part of 100 KM one more day is added. For ex. If approx. distance is 310Kms then validity period is 3+1 days.For movement of Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC), the validity is one day for every 20 KM(instead of 100 KM)and for every 20KM or part thereof one more day is added.Please refer relevant rules for details.

Whether e-way bill is required, if the goods are being purchased and moved by the consumer to his destination himself?

Yes. As per the e-way bill rules, e-way bill is required to be carried along with the goods at the time of transportation, if the value is more than Rs. 50,000/-. Under this circumstance, the consumer can get the e-way bill generated from the taxpayer or supplier, based on the bill or invoice issued by him. The consumer can also enroll as citizen and generate the e-way bill himself.

How to enter the vehicle number DL1AB123 as there is no format available for this in e-way bill system?

If the RC book has vehicle number like DL1A123, then you enter as DL01A0123. The vehicle entered in the e-way bill system is only for information and GST officer will accept this variation.

Source: CBEC website and E-way bill FAQs