ELECTRONIC WAY BILL

Submitted during Internship under Legal Specs by Rupali Chawla.

Abstract

E-way bill is a unique document or compliance mechanism by way of a digital interface the person causing the movement of goods uploads the relevant information prior to the commencement of movement of goods and generated on the GST portal. The extension and cancellation of e-way take place through the options available on the E-way Bill portal with relevance provisions under Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The assessing authority of GST department manage the affairs related to any fault in the documents of consignments. The e-way bill system introduced in the April 1st of 2018. However, E-way reduce the document load and provide clarity related to the movement of goods from one place to another.

Introduction

Transportation plays a crucial role in GST. Transportation means goods and services moving from one location to another. The Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 introduced to concise the taxation system in the nation. Under GST there are two documents which detailed about the value and the transportation system of the goods and services, the Invoice and E-way Bill respectively. The Electronic Way Bill (E-way bill) is a unique document or bill generated for the consignment or movement of goods from one location to another. It is generated for both intra-state and inter-state supply, of value more than ₹50,000 required under the GST. Under Rule 138 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 the E-way Rule “Till such times as an E-way bill system is developed and approved by the Council, the Government may, by notification, specify the documents that the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods shall carry while the goods are in movement or in transit storage”

There are two types of e-way bill prescribed as follows:

• Normal E-way bill shall be generated when there is transportation of goods having one type of HSN.

• Bulk E-way bill shall be generated when there is transportation of goods having multiple HSN code.

All the exiting state-wise documentation required for movement of goods will never again be require is biggest advantage of e-way bill. It make transportation system more effective and faster. The quick and simple generation of e-way bill done through E-way bill portal system. The person required to generate e-way bill are the registered person, transporter of the goods and consignor (The unregistered person can enrolled on the portal and generate the e-way bill for their client).

Documents required to generate e-way bill are:

· Invoice or Bill of supply or Challan relevant to the consignment of goods.

· Whether transportation by road, air and ship: Transportation ID or transport document number.

As per the provisions of Goods and Services Tax, the validity of the E-way bill under clause (10) of Rule138 of the CGST Act, 2017 describes about validity period of the e-way bill. The validity of e-way bill depends on the distance to be travelled by the goods. For a distance of less than 200 Km the e-way bill will be valid for a day from the relevant date. For every 200 Km thereafter, the validity will be additional one day from the relevant date. The extension of the validity of e-way bill can be done by the transporter through the e-way bill portal before 8 hours and after 8 hours expiry of the validity (before it was before 4 hours and after four hours).

Goods are exempted for the requirement of the e-way bill are described as:

· Liquefied petroleum gas for supply to household and non-domestic exempted category (NDEC) customers.

· Kerosene oil sold under PDS.

· Postal baggage transported by Department of Posts.

· Natural or cultured pearls and precious or semi-precious stones; precious metal and metals clad with precious metal.

· Jewellery, goldsmiths and silver wares and other articles (Chapter 71)

· Currency

· Coral, Unworked (0508) and worked coral, etc.

The goods exempted under Notification7/2017 dated 28.06.2017

· The supply of goods by the CSD to the Unit Run Canteens.

· The supply of goods by the CSD to the authorized customers.

· The supply of goods by the Unit Run Canteens to the authorized customers.

The activities or transactions which are neither falls under supply of goods nor supply of services.

Further in addition such goods are also exempted from the requirements of e-way bill as per Notification 12/2018 for the goods notified under notification 2/2017 –Central Tax (Rate);

1. Non GST Goods

2. Petroleum Crude

3. Alcoholic liquor for human consumption

4. High speed diesel oil

5. Natural Gas

6. Motor Spirit.

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, an e-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit in accordance with the provisions of rule 138B of the CGST Rules, 2017.

Form descried about the procedure of the e-way bill mentioned in the PART-A and PART-B Rules of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

1. FORM GST EWB-01 (Generation of EE-way bill for movement of goods)

2. FORM GST EWB-02 (Consolidate E-way Bill is a single e-way bill document that contain details of e-way bill)

3. FORM GST EWB-03 (Summary report of every inspection of goods in transit shall be recorded by the proper officer)

4. FORM GST EWB-04 (Report of Detension

5. FORM GST EWB-05 (Application of unblocking facility for generation for e-way bill)

6. FORM GST EWB-06 (Order for permitting/rejecting application for unblocking facility)

The Judicial decisions in the reference of the e-way bill on different matters through Honorable Benches:

Assistant Commissioner State Tax v Ashok Kumar Sureka; the Calcutta High Court held that the Revenue Department could not have intercepted or detained the vehicle in the absence of second e-way bill as the first e-way bill was valid during the intervention period.

NE Equipment Solutions Private Limited v State of Tripura & Ors.; The tax authorities should create a difference between deliberate tax evasion and minor or technical error defects which manifest no intension to evade tax.

Shri Venkateshvara Logistics vs The Assistant Commissioner on 19 August, 2020; The writ petition is allowed and the respondent is directed to forthwith release the lorry bearing registration number HR-55-AF-7882 and the goods carried by it which is covered by the E-Way bill 181110112217. However, liberty is reserved for the proper authority under the CGST Act to continue the proceedings initiated under Section 67 and determine the amount of tax payable on the previous supplies made under Section 74 or initiate any penal action under Section 132 of the CGST Act against the supplier or the registered recipients for the alleged fraudulent availing of input tax credit or the wrongful generation of invoices.

Hemanth Motors v State of Maharashtra; No dispute that the conveyance had reached the place of destination well within the expiry of e-way bills, and the conyeyance was being unloaded without any futher transit.

Podder & Podder Industries Private Limited v State of Tripura; High court held that the e-way bill has expired just prior to the date of enter into the state, such goods has not to be stopped and instead an undertaking should be taken from the buyer and seller. Intimation should be provided to the officer of both the parties before they may appear to make necessary compliance.

Conclusion

The e-way bill provisions bring a uniform e-way bill rule which is applicable throughout the country. The physical interface will pave way for digital interface which will facilitate faster movement of goods. It is bound to improve the turnaround time of vehicles and help the logistics industry by increasing the average distances travelled, reducing the travel time as well as costs. This will have the constant burden on the business owners but it will definitely ease the taxing process for text collector. This will also guide the tax officers for administration and keep an eye on the quantity and types of goods to be transported throughout the country especially interstate transports. The conveyance once verified by the tax officer will not be checked again in any State or Union territory, unless and until, any specific information for the same is received.