E-way bills hit record 10 cr on festive demand, compliance

Robust festive demand and a rise in compliance boosted e-way bill generation to a record high of more than 10 crore in October, showed data from the Goods and Service Tax (GST) network portal. Both intra and inter-state bill generation recorded growth during the month.

"One of the reasons for the increase in e-way bill generation is the festive season purchases made by the public at large and replenishment of stocks by the brands in the supply chain to meet the anticipated demand for the upcoming Diwali season," said Gunjan Prabhakaran, partner and leader, indirect tax, BDO India.

Sequentially, e-way bills rose 9% in October, with inter-state trade growing at a faster clip of 10% compared with intra-state transport's 8.5% increase.


"Increased scrutiny by revenue authorities and better compliance at the assesses end are some of the reasons for the increase in e-way bill generation," Prabhakaran said.

On an annualised basis, e-way bill generation in October was 19.4% more than September. The pace of increase was also faster than September 2022 when e-way bill generation rose 7% amid Diwali and other festivals during the month.

E-way bill generation is expected to stay higher in the days leading up to Diwali, as companies have been experiencing greater product consumption.

India's GST revenue rose 13.4% in October to ₹1.72 lakh crore in the sharp pace of increase since December last year. October also was the second highest month of GST collections this fiscal, after April's ₹1.87 lakh crore.