Inter or intra-state movement of goods is often strictly monitored by the governing authorities. However, the process gets tedious when the officials need to check every vehicle separately to first establish the value of the goods, the name of the supplier and recipient, and the nature of the goods transportation in general. This is where E-way Bill generation comes in handy as these electronic waybills allow participants to move the products seamlessly across borders, whilst helping the authorities monitor them better in an effort to minimize GST evasion.
How does an E-way Bill Function?
If you, as a recipient or supplier, are moving goods worth Rs. 50,000 across city or state borders, you must ensure that an Eway Bill is generated. To generate one, you simply need to visit the online portal, i.e., ewaybillgst.gov.in, fill in the particulars, and generate one, as required. But then, you can even generate an E-way bill by sharing a text message or downloading and sourcing the official application from the relevant app store. The best part here is that upon E-way Bill generation, each participant, including the transporter, supplier, and recipient, get access to a unique bill number for seamless reference, which typically validates the movement of the consignment from one point to the other.
When can you Generate the Eway Bill?
Plainly speaking, the ideal scenario would be to generate the E-way bill prior to goods transportation across city or state borders. However, more detailed reasoning would be generating the same for acquiring supply with or without consideration and unregistered, inward receipts. But then, the coverage of E-way bill generation often extends beyond goods as supply like purchase, barter of products, and even branch transfers also qualify. Also, the Rs.50000 threshold doesn’t always get adhered to as inter-state handicraft transfer of any value requires an Eway bill to validate it as a GST exempted consignment.
Who Should consider generating an E-way Bill?
In theory, a person registered on the portal must generate a bill, if the movement concerns goods worth Rs. 50000. However, the registered individual is at the liberty to generate the same even if the threshold value hasn’t been achieved. Apart from the registered individual, even unregistered parties must get access to an Eway bill, in an effort to show compliance with the transportation norms. Finally, if the supplier hasn’t already generated the bill, the transporter must take a lead and do the same before moving the product via rail, air, or even road. Is there a catch here? As much as E-way Bill generation seems like a straightforward process, there are a few aspects to take note of, which include movement of goods from unregistered to registered parties, where the responsibility of generation is with the recipient. Also, if the supplier hasn’t generated any waybill, the transporter needs to do the same. Finally, if the transporter isn’t a registered one, it still needs to log into the portal and generate the Eway bill, which will then generate a Transporter ID for future reference. E-way Bill Generation: Possible Options
- Firstly, you can simply log into the official portal, hit registration, select “SMS” facility, feed the registered number, and verify the same with an OTP. Once the number is registered, you can simply check for them onto the platform via the generated user ID and submit the same to generate the waybill.
- Similarly, you can simply reach out to the online portal and create an Eway bill by selecting the details referring to the consignment as outward or inward. Once the nature of the transportation is declared, prepare the waybill by feeding in the relevant HSN code, product description, consignment value, GST details, and the distance of transportation to submit the request and finally generate the waybill.
Can E-Way Bills be Excluded?
Yes, in certain cases like custom transit, movement of exempted goods, unoccupied container, delivery using challan, and more, you might not need to generate an E-way Bill.
Wrap-Up
Now that we have addressed all the basic aspects of an Eway bill, it is important to keep up with all the particulars and guidelines to ensure that each one is generated promptly and to perfection. If done correctly, Eway Bills can help in cost reduction, minimized documentation, and efficient transportation. However, if you find the process to be a tad overwhelming, you can always rely on a credible service provider to do it for you.