Last updated: December 7th, 2021 1:26 PM

Revised updated basics of E-way bill

‘E-way bill’ stands for ‘Electronic Way Bill’. Since April 2018, any person dealing with the goods will be somewhat familiar with the term e-way bill. The basic purpose behind the introduction of the e-way bill is to ensure adequate compliance with the GST law; tracking of the movement of goods and controlling tax evasion. The present article tries to brush up the basic concepts of an e-way bill like fundamentals of e-way bill; categories of the person liable to generate e-way bill; exceptions to e-way bill and validity of e-way bill.

Fundamentals of E-way bill-

An e-way bill is to be generated when there is a movement of goods, in a vehicle/ conveyance, of a value more than INR 50,000. Such movement of goods can be-

• In relation to a supply;
• For any reason other than supply; or
• Due to an inward supply from an unregistered person.

An e-way bill in Form GST EWB-01 consists of two parts. The details of both the parts are provided hereunder- PART A covers the following details-

• GSTIN of the supplier;
• Place of Dispatch;
• GSTIN of the Recipient;
• Place of Delivery;
• Document Number;
• Document Date;
• Value of Goods;
• HSN Code; and
• Reason for Transportation.

Whereas, PART B covers the following details-

• Vehicle Number for Road; and
• Transport Document Number or Defence Vehicle Number or Temporary Vehicle Registration Number or Nepal/ Bhutan Vehicle Registration Number.

The details in Part A of Form GST EWB-01 are to be furnished before the commencement of the movement of goods. Whereas, Part B (i.e. transport details) will be furnished later on by the transporter. Accordingly, the following are the documents/ details which is required to generate an e-way bill-

1. Invoice or Bill of Supply or Challan related to the consignment of goods.
2. Transport details like-

Mode of transport	Details required
Transport by road	Transporters ID or Vehicle Number
Transport by air or rail or ship	Transporter ID; Transport document number and date on the document

Categories of the person liable to generate E-way bill-

Following categories of persons are liable to generate e-way bill under GST-

1. Registered person-

Every person registered under GST causing movement of goods of consignment value exceeding INR 50,000 is liable to generate an e-way bill for each of such movement. However, at the choice of the registered person/ transporter, e-way bill can also be generated if the value of the goods is less than INR 50,000.

2. Unregistered person-

The person not registered under GST (i.e. unregistered person) is also required to generate an e-way bill. Notably, in case the supply is made by an unregistered person to a registered person, then the registered person i.e. the receiver will have to ensure meeting up all the e-way bill compliance.

3. Transporter-

The transporter carrying goods through road, rail, air etc. is required to generate an e-way bill, only if the supplier of such goods has not generated the same.

Exceptions to the e-way bill [Rule 138(14)]-

It is important to note done that generation of e-way bill is not required under the following circumstances-

1. The goods transported are any of the following-

• Liquefied petroleum gas for supply to household and non-domestic exempted category customers,
• Kerosene oil sold under PDS,
• Currency,
• Postal baggage transported by post department,
• Used personal and household effects,
• Jewellery, goldsmiths and silversmiths ware and other articles (Chapter 71),
• Natural/ cultured pearls and precious/ semi-precious stones, precious metal and metal clad with precious metal (Chapter 71),
• Coral, worked coral (9601) and unworked (0508),
• Alcoholic liquor for human consumption,
• Petroleum crude,
• High speed diesel,
• Motor spirit (petrol),
• Natural gas,
• Aviation turbine fuel.

2. Goods transported by a non-motorized conveyance.
3. Goods transported from any of the following places to an inland container depot/ container freight station for clearance by Customs-

• Customs port,
• Airport,
• Air cargo complex,
• Land customs station.

4. Goods transported is not a supply as per Schedule III of the CGST Act.
5. Goods transported by or to the defence formation under the Ministry of Defence.
6. Goods being transported are specified in the schedule attached to notification no. 2/2017- Central Tax (Rate) dated 28^th June 2017, other than de-oiled cake.
7. Transportation of empty cargo containers.
8. Goods transported for weighment from the place of business to the weighbridge and vice-versa up to a distance of 20 Kms. However, a delivery challan needs to be issued for the same.
9. Transport of goods by rail where the consignor is either Central Government or State Government or local authority for transport of goods by rail.
10. Movement of empty cylinders for packing of liquefied petroleum gas.
11. Goods transported are transit cargo from or to Bhutan or Nepal.
12. Transported goods are exempted as per notification no. 7/2017- Central Tax (Rate) dated 28^th June 2017 as amended and notification no. 26/2017- Central Tax (Rate) dated 21^st September 2017 as amended.
13. Goods being transported under Customs Bond from one customs station/ port to another. It also includes transport from an inland container depot/ container freight to a customs port, airport, land customs station and air cargo complex.
14. Goods being transported under customs supervision/ customs seal.

Validity of E-way bill [Rule 138(10)]-

The validity of the e-way bill is tabulated hereunder-

Type of conveyance	Distance	Validity of E-way bill
Over dimensional cargo	Up to 20 Kms	One day
Over dimensional cargo	For every additional 20 Kms or part thereof	One additional day
Other than over dimensional cargo or multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involved transport by ship	Up to 200 Kms (refer notification no. 94/2020- Central Tax dated 22nd December 2020)	One day
Other than over dimensional cargo or multimodal shipment in which at least one leg involved transport by ship	For every additional 200 Kms or part thereof (refer notification no. 94/2020- Central Tax dated 22nd December 2020)	One additional day

Importantly, an extension of the validity period is possible only under exceptional circumstances. However, validity may be extended within 8 hours from the time of its expiry.