The Significance of E-way Bill Generation under GST Regime

Narendra Kumar

06 Jun, 2024

When is E-Way Bill Required under GST?

Whenever the movement of goods takes place and the value of the consignment exceeds fifty thousand rupees. This requirement is mandatory and no goods can be transported without a copy of the E-way bill. It does not matter if the goods are exempted under GST or not, E-way bill generation is mandatory. There are certain cases where the E-way bill generation is mandatory irrespective of the consignment value. These cases include the following:

1. Job work – If the goods are transferred to a job working in another state
2. Handicraft Goods

Who is Required to Generate E-Way Bill?

Following people are liable to generate e-way bill as per the provisions:

• Any person registered under GST is either transporting or receiving the goods in question.
• Any unregistered person transporting or receiving the goods in question. However, if such an unregistered person is transporting to a registered person then it is the liability of the receiver to generate the E-way
• If the E-way bill is not generated by the supplier, then the transporter is required to generate it.

The Format of E-Way Bill

One can apply for E-way bill generation in the given format in Form EWB-01 on the official portal waybill.nic.in

The E-way bill is detailed and contains 12 digit e-way bills no along with details of the generator, generation date, validity period etc. Form EWB-01 is divided into 2 parts. Part A and B.

PART A of the E-way bill includes the following information:

• GST No of supplier/ Recipient
• Place of dispatch
• Place of delivery
• Invoice No along with the date
• Value of consignment
• Reason for Transport
• HSN codes of Goods to be transported

PART B of the E-way bill includes the following information:

• Details of Transporter
• Vehicle number in which the goods are transported

The Significance of Part B

At the time of notifying the mandatory requirement of the generation of the e-way bill, the Finance Ministry had clarified that both Part A and Part B of the Form EWB-01 must be properly filled out. And only once the Part B containing the transporters details is filled out will the E-way bill will become valid. Furnishing incomplete information and violation of provisions can invoke penalty provisions.

As per the provision of Rule 138 read with section 68 of CGST for the transport of taxable goods whose value exceeds Rs. 50,000, E-way bill generation is mandatory. If any registered person fails to comply with the above-stated provisions, then they will be penalized under 122, 129 and 130 of CGST Act.

Provisions under Sec 122(xiv): Penalty is Imposed, Higher of the following:

• 10,000 or
• Tax sought to be evaded

Provisions under Sec 129: Detention, Seizure, and Release of Goods and Conveyance in Transit

If the owner comes forward to pay tax and penalty then the following provisions will be imposed:

1. If the concerned goods are taxable then 100% of the tax and penalty amount is to be paid.
2. If the concerned goods are not taxable then lower of the following;

• 2% of the value of the goods or
• 25,000

3. Security is furnished of the same amount

If the owner does not come forward to pay tax and penalty then the following provisions will be imposed:

1. If the concerned goods are taxable then 50% of the amount of the goods excluding the tax amount.
2. If the concerned goods are not taxable then lower of the following;

• 5% of the value of the goods or
• 25,000

3. Security is furnished of the same amount

Provisions under Sec 130: Confiscation of Goods and Conveyance and levy of Penalties

If the owner of the goods or transporter fails to pay such tax amount and penalty for a period exceeding 7 days, then the goods in question will be confiscated and penalty will be imposed which shall not exceed the number of goods in question and penalty levied under Section 129 of the ACT.

Case Study

On 5th July 2018, High Court of Madhya Pradesh had confirmed an order of Appellate Authority & Joint commissioner of State Tax, Indore and Assistant Commissioner of State Tax, Indore against M/s Gati-Kintetsu Express Private Ltd and imposed demand and penalty of around 1.3 Crore.

This order was passed for violation of Sec 68 of CGST Act 2017 and Rule 138 of CGST Act 2017. They were transporting goods from Pune to Noida via different cities. And after inspection, it was discovered that they had failed to update Part B of the E-way Bill.

Consecutively, proceedings were initiated under Section 122 and section 129 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. They tried to defend themselves by stating that it was due to a technical glitch. However, this was rejected by the authorities stating that in case of any technical error they were required to raise any grievance on the site irrespective of the fact that such grievance reporting system is available on the portal.

Also, Read

• GST Reconciliation Statement Form GSTR 9C
• GSTR-9: GST Annual Return Filing Form, Eligibility and Due Date
• What are the types of GST Return & due dates filing