An eway bill is an essential document issued by a carrier that contains all the details of the shipment of a consignment of goods. The details in the eway bill include the name of the consignor, consignee, the origin of the consignment, route and its destination. Electronic Way Bill also known as E-Way Bill is basically a compliance mechanism where the transporter responsible for the movement of goods uploads the relevant information online. This information is uploaded prior to the commencement of movement of goods and an e-way bill is generated on the GST portal.
Who can generate the e-way bill ?
E-way bill is to be generated by the consignor or consignee if the transportation is carried out via own/hired conveyance or by roadways, railways or airways. If the transportation of goods is handed over to a transporter for transportation by road. An E-way bill is to be generated for goods that have a value of more than Rs.50,000/-. It is the responsibility of the Transporter to generate eway bill even if the consignor or consignee have not done so.
Eway Bill Registration
Both registered businesses and unregistered transporters need to get registered on the portal to be able to generate e-way bills for transporting or shipment of goods. Registration of e-way bills can be done on the official website at ewaybillgst.gov.in.
- For the first-time GSTIN (GST Identification Number) can register by eway bill login on the ‘e-way bill Registration’ link under registration option, the taxpayer/transporter will be redirected to the ‘e-Way Bill Registration Form’.
- For someone who doesn’t have GSTIN can enrol on the system by providing their business details.
Alternatively, e-way bills can also be generated online through SMS, Android App and by site-to-site integration through API. On generating an e-way bill, a unique e-way Bill Number (EBN) gets created and is allocated to the supplier, recipient, and the transporter.
How to generate E-way bill?
An e-way bill consists of two parts- Part A to be furnished by the person responsible for the movement of goods of consignment that have a value of Rs.50,000/- and on part B the transportation details need to be filled in by the individual responsible for transportation of goods. The goods get transported by a registered person, the transporter has to generate the e-way bill by furnishing information in part B on the GST common portal. If the e-way bill is not generated by the registered person and the goods are handed over to the transporter, the registered person will fill in the information of the transporter in Part B of the FORM GST EWB-01. The e-way bill can be generated by the transporter on the basis of the information mentioned by the registered person in Part A of the FORM GST EWB-01.
E-Way Bill under GST
E-way bill is generated on the GST portal as evidence for movement of goods. The two components are as follows:
- Part A of the eway bill will be filled by the consignor or consignee. Part A of the bill comprises details of GSTIN of the recipient, invoice or challan number, date, place of delivery (PIN Code), the value of goods, transport document number, HSN code and reasons for transportation.
- Part B is assigned to the transporter for filling vehicle-related details. Part B of the eway bill comprises transporter details (Vehicle number). As per Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value more than Rs. 50000/- is required to fill in the above-mentioned information in part A of the bill. The part B of the eway bill contains transport details that help in e-way bill generation.
Any non-compliance in the generation of the e-way bill will result in the interception and detention of goods and imposition of fines and penalties. Even when the e-way bill is generated by the transporter, the consequences of non-compliance have to be borne by the owner of the goods. At a later stage, the details of e-way bills are compared and reconciled with the outward details reported by the suppliers in their returns (Form GSTR-1). Due to the lack of trained resources at the transporter level, eway bill requirements have raised concerns among owners of goods as the likelihood of non-compliance is quite high.
Eway Bill Verification
Physical verification of a specific conveyance of goods will be carried out by the officer in charge. The verification is done on the receipt of specific information on evasion of tax, after obtaining necessary approval of the Commissioner or an officer. The report of every inspection of goods in transit shall be recorded online by the officer in charge of the verification in Part A of FORM GST EWB-03 and the report in Part B of FORM GST EWB-03 gets recorded within 3 days of the inspection.