Next up for GST Council: E-way bill

GST Council, the apex decision-making body for goods and services tax, is set to meet again on Sunday. One of the key issues on the agenda is the ‘e-way bill’, which has implications not just for the industry but also individuals. ET looks at the proposed framework for eway bills and what it means:

What is an e-way bill?
It is an electronic permit required to be presented for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 within a state or between states.

How will it be generated?
The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) will generate e-way bills that will be valid for one to 15 days, depending on the distance over which the goods are to be transported. One-day permit will be for a distance up to 100 km while a 15-day permit will allow more than 1,000-km transit. Once an e-way bill is generated by GSTN, the supplier, recipient and transporter concerned would be provided a unique e-way bill number that will serve as a permit.

Why is an e-way bill needed under the GST regime?
A tax officer can intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill or physical goods for all inter-state and intra-state movement of goods. So, a transporter will have to carry invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, and a copy of e-way bill or e-way bill number, either physically or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device ( RFID) embedded in the conveyance. This will need to be flashed when a vehicle is intercepted by the tax officers.

Why was this introduced?
Though the Centre was not keen, it gave in to states’ demand to keep a track of goods moving within their border or across borders.

What does the industry say about it?
Industry has said that e-way bills go against the very spirit of GST and will bring back inspector raj. It has pitched for a relook at the whole framework, saying the idea of GST is to create a seamless national market.