GST E-Way Bill – Rules, Login, Format, Register & Generate

What is GST E-Way Bill? How  to register and generate E-Way Bill from the portal?  What are GST E-Way Bill rules and when are the rules applicable? How to login on portal and get the format of E-Way Bill?

What is GST E-Way Bill ?

E-Way bill is an electronic document which is required to be carried by the person in charge of conveyance for movement of goods from one place to another place. It contains information w.r.t movement of goods, location of supplier, recipient, HSN/description of goods and so on. E-Way Bill has been introduced with the objective to counter unaccounted movement of goods. It helps Government to keep check  on every sale and purchase.

Recent amendments in E-Way Bill

Central government has recently notified Rule 138 of CGST Rules 2017, which introduced bill under GST .

GST E-Way Bill Rules -When is it Applicable?

Mandatory E-Way Bill

E-Way bill is applicable for every movement of goods of consignment value more than Rs. 50,000. It is required before commencement of movement of goods by every registered person, be it supplier or recipient of goods.Bill is applicable:

• In relation to a supply (If the goods are subjected to tax)
• For reasons other than supply. For example: goods returned, goods sent to job worker on delivery challan (Even if the goods are not subjected to tax)
• Due to inward supply from an unregistered person (Even if seller is not registered)

However, there are some cases where even if consignment value is less than Rs. 50,000, E-Way bill needs to be generated, like

• When goods are sent by principal to job-worker from one state to another state.

For example: Clothing material is sent by principal located in Delhi to job worker located in Punjab for stitching cloths. The value of clothing material is Rs. 20,000. Bill shall be generated by Principal or Job-worker, if registered.

• Person who is supplying handicraft goods from one state to another. If that person has not obtained registration under GST because threshold limit didn’t exceed Rs.20 Lakh.

Handicraft goods are those goods which are made by hand even though some machinery may be used.

The bill is required to be carried by a person transporting the goods from one place to another.

Consignment value means value declared in an invoice including all taxes.

Optional E-Way Bill

 In some case where at their own option, supplier, recipient or transporter may generate the bill:

• If consignment value is less than Rs. 50,000, then the supplier or recipient at his own option may generate E-Way bill.
• When the movement is caused by an unregistered person, then at the own option, the person may generate E-Way Bill.

Which forms need to be filed for generation of E-Way bill?

Before commencement of movement of goods, whether in his own conveyance or a hired one or a public conveyance by road, every registered person be it supplier or recipient shall generate Form GST EWB-01 electronically through http://ewaybill.nic.in/.  E-Way bill shall be valid only when both Part-A and Part-B of Form GST EWB-01 is filed. Where in Part-B of form GST EWB-01 detail of conveyance in which goods are transported shall be furnished.

Form GST EWB-01 can also be generated by a person, if an authorization is received from the registered person, either by the supplier or recipient:

1. Transporter
2. E-commerce operator (Eg. Flipkart, amazon etc.)
3. Courier Agency

After E-Way bill has been generated in Form GST EWB-01, Where multiple consignments are to be transported in one conveyance, the transporter may indicate the serial number of E-Way bills generated in respect of each such consignment electronically on the common portal and a consolidated E-Way bill in FORM GST EWB-02 maybe generated by him on the said common portal prior to the movement of goods.

Validity of E-Way Bill

The E-Way bill shall be valid for the period as mentioned below:

Where over-dimensional cargo in general terms is overweight load that exceeds the weight limit.

 Goods exempted from E-Way Bill

 Following goods are exempted from E-Way Bill

• If goods are transported for a distance of upto 50 kilometres within the state or union territory from the place of business of consignor to the place of business of transporter for further transportation, the transporter may not furnish the details of conveyance in Part B of form GST EWB-01.
• Goods are transported by non-motorised conveyance.
• If goods are transported from the customs port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs.

Inland container depot or Container freight station are dry ports where goods are kept for handling and temporary storage of cargos.

• Where goods which are not covered under GST are being transported. For example: alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas or aviation turbine fuel.
• If goods being transported is treated as no supply under schedule III of the GST Act. For Example: Services provided by an employee to the employer or services of funeral, burial, crematorium etc.
• Where goods are transported are from or to Nepal or Bhutan.
• When the consignor of goods is the Central Government, Government of any State or a local authority for transport of goods by rail.
• Transport of empty cargo containers.

States in which E-Way Bill is Mandatory

For Inter-state movement of goods i.e. from one state to another state,

• E-Way bill is mandatory w.e.f 01^st April 2018.

Intra-state movement of goods i.e. within the state,

• The bill will be announced in a phased manner but not later than 01^st June 2018.

As of now, only KARNATAKA has started mandatory implication of the bill.

How to Login and Where to Register for E-Way Bill ?

E-Way bill login id and password is to be created at site https://ewaybill2.nic.in by choosing head registration, under which there are three sub-heads 1. E-Way bill registration, 2. Enrolment for transporters (If transporter in unregistered) 3. Enrolment for citizens, choose whatever applicable.

 There are 2 ways to generate E-Way Bill from Web Portal

1. By E-web
2. SMS

Logging into E-Way Bill System

• Register under E-Way bill
• Enter user id and password with captcha.
• On successful logging, the system shows the main menu of the E-Way Bill System as shown below:
• Select the sub-option ‘Generate E-Way bill’ under ‘E-Way Bill’ Option.

The following screen shows up

How to Generate E-Way Bill from Web Portal ?

First keep your invoice and transporter id ready.

• Select transaction – outward or inward.
• The outward indicates, the user is supplying the goods and inward indicates the user is receiving the goods.
• In outward supply, system will automatically populate the basic details like Name, GSTIN of supplier, Address etc in the ‘Form’ section.
• For an inward supply, in the ‘From’ section, name, GSTIN and address need to be filled.
• Select the type of document from the drop-down menu as per the document
  • Invoice, Bill of supply, challan, credit note etc.
• Enter the document number and date of document (invoice, bill or challan).
• Fill in the ‘Item Details’.
• Enter the Product details.
  • By entering 2-3 characters of the product name, which is being transported, the system allows the user to select the product name which was updated in the masters by him previously. All other fields under this section like description, HSN, Unit, Tax rate need to be filed.
• Enter the quantity and taxable value of the product mentioned in the document.
• Add multiple products by clicking on plus(+) sign.
• Based on the taxable value and rate of tax, the system will calculate CGST, SGST, IGST and CESS amount.
• You can edit this amount also.
• The system will show the CGST and SGST tax rate for intra-state movement and IGST tax rate for inter-state movement.
• Select the mode of transportation
  • Road, rail, air or ship and the approximate travelling distance between the selected supplier (source) to recipient (destination).
• If the goods are being moved directly , you can enter the Vehicle Number.
• Detail of Transporter is mandatory  for generation of the bill.
• Click Submit. A unique 12-digit number will be generated which shows the validity of the bill.
• Goods need to be moved within that valid date and time.

Consequences, if E-Way bill is not generated

Where a taxable person who transports any taxable goods without the cover of documents where one of the document is E-Way bill, shall be liable to a penalty of Rs. 10,000/- or tax sought to be evaded (wherever applicable) whichever is greater.

Further, where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of the Act or rules, Without carrying E-Way bill, 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.

The article has been written by CA Monika Bansal. You can reach Monika at samastadvisory@gmail.com