Movement of goods set to be easy with e-way bill from February 1: GSTN CEO

Come February and transporters will not need separate transit passes for moving goods from one state to another as the e-way bill issued to them will be valid throughout India, GST Network said on Friday.

Under the Goods and Services Tax rolled out from July last year, inter-state movement of goods beyond 10 kms, with a value of Rs 50,000 and above, will mandatorily require e-way bill from February 1.

GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said: "Taxpayers and transporters need not visit any tax office or check post as the e-way Bill can be generated electronically in a self-service mode.

"The new system enables generation of e-Way bill on the portal, through mobile App, through SMS and for large users using offline tool."
 
The e-way bill system has already been rolled out in four states -- Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Kerala. These states together generate nearly 1.4 lakh e-way bills per day.

"The remaining states will join during next fortnight. The period up to January 31 will be used as trial period for all stakeholders," GSTN said in a statement.

It said transporters who want to generate e-way bill can visit the 'ewaybill.nic.in' portal and register themselves by giving the GSTIN. Transporters who are not registered under GST can enrol themselves under e-way bill system by providing their PAN or Aadhaar to generate the eWay Bill.

Alert messages are also issued to the users through online and SMS.

"Vehicle number can be entered by those who generate E- way Bill or transporter and they can also update the vehicle number in case of vehicle breakdown or transshipment," said GSTN, the company handling the technology backbone for GST roll out.

There is provision for cancellation of e-way Bill within 24 hours of its generation.

"No E-way Bill is required for movement of goods in non- motorised conveyance and also for certain class of goods like fruits, vegetables, fish and water," it added.

The e-way bill rules provide for random verification which can be done by a tax officer. However, he has to upload the requisite report within the specified time.

Also, if a transporter faces detention of more than 30 minutes, he can upload a report on the portal

Rules, Notification, computer-based and Computer based tutorials (CBTs) are available online.

GSTN has invited suggestions from stakeholders on the e-way bill system.