MAY 18, 2017

By Shilpa Gupta, CA, CS

IT was expected that with many of the current indirect taxes being subsumed under GST, the concept of way bill would also be scrapped; however the same was just a myth. The concept of Way bill would continue under GST regime as well. In fact E-way bill under GST would have an increased scopewhen compared to the current one. Currently the applicability of way bill is restricted to specific states and the list of products notified by that state; however under GST, e-way bill would be required to be issued for all types of goods being transported from one place to another having value more than Rs. 50,000/-.

As per the draft E-way bill rules introduced in the public domain, E-way bill is to be generated by the registered person (consignor) or the transporter on movement of goods worth above Rs 50,000/- on account of following reasons:

1) In relation to supply of goods

2) For reasons other than supply

3) Due to inward supply from an unregistered person

Where the movement is caused by an unregistered person either in his own conveyance or a hired one or through a transporter, he or the transporter may, at their option, generate the e-way bill.

However when the goods are supplied by an unregistered person to a registered person; it will be considered that the goods are supplied by recipient and the recipient will be required to issue an e-way bill as per the above provision. This would increase the compliance on the part of recipient on account of purchase of goods from an unregistered dealer (As per the CGST Act, the recipient of goods will also be liable to pay GST on reverse charge basis on receipt of supplies from unregistered dealers.)

Part A and Part B of Form GST INS-01 is required to be filled on the GST portal, post which an e-way bill would be generated. Role of each participant in the process of generation of E-way bill, under different scenarios is tabulated as under:

*RR will be liable to fill Part A and Part B of Form GST INS-01 in case where he is known at the time of commencement of movement of goods.

Glossary for terms used in above table:

- SR – Registered Supplier

- RR – Registered Recipient

- SU – Unregistered Supplier

- RU – Unregistered Recipient

Once the e-way bill is generated, details of the same shall be communicated to the registered recipient on the common portal and he has to communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment covered by the e-way bill within seventy two hours. In absence of any action on the part of registered recipient within the time limit, the same would be deemed to be accepted.

The E-way bill generated would be valid for a specific period depending on the distance of the journey and the same can be voluntarily cancelled within twenty four hours of its generation – in case where the goods are not being transported or are not being transported as per the details specified in the e-way bill. Though the law is silent on its deemed cancellation, one may interpret that the e-way bill generated may be deemed to be cancelled in case where the journey is not completed within the validity period of the e-way bill.

Apart from the supplier and recipient of the goods, the transporter also plays an important role in the e-way bill generation process. The transporter is required to issue the e-way bill in case where the goods are supplied by an unregistered supplier to an unregistered recipient (same is optional). Further in case where the goods are transferred from one conveyance to another in the course of transit, then the transporter would be required to generate a new e-way bill before such transfer and movement of goods and communicate the details of the same to the supplier and recipient.

In case of multiple consignments being transported in the same conveyance then the transporter shall generate a consolidated e-way bill in Form GST INS -02 on the common portal prior to the movement of goods. Separately the person in charge of the conveyance shall also carry following documents while in transit-

a) Invoice/ bill of supply/ delivery challan as the case may be

b) Copy of e-way bill/ e-way bill number, either physically or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RIFD) – the said document may not be required where circumstances warrant it and the Commissioner has notified the same.

They may also be required to get a unique RIFD installed in their conveyance on being notified by the Commissioner in this regard.

From the above, it can be inferred that each participant plays an important role in generation of E-way bill and the completion of entire process is dependent upon the successful execution of role by other party in the process.