E-way bill mandatory for inter-state movement of goods from Sunday
What's the story
The electronic way (e-way) bill under the GST is going to be implemented on April 1 for the interstate transport of goods worth over Rs. 50,000 in India. For intrastate transport, a phased roll-out will begin from April 15. This is to ensure smooth implementation of the e-way bill, unlike the previous instance when countrywide execution led to an online system crash.
Introduction
E-way bill was first introduced on February 1
The e-way bill provision of GST was first introduced on February 1. However, its implementation was put on hold after the system developed glitches in generating permits. GSTN has activated only that facility on its portal where e-way bill can be generated when goods are transported interstate. "Any attempt to generate e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods will be blocked," an official said.
E-way bills
75 lakh inter-state e-way bills can be generated daily
The platform has been made more robust and as many as 75 lakh inter-state e-way bills could be generated daily without any glitch. The system has been designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). "The NIC has assured us that the system should work. NIC has conducted extensive tests so that it doesn't develop snag at the last moment," an official said.
Registration
11 lakh entities had registered on e-way bill portal
The official added that GST Network (GSTN) had advised all transporters and businesses to enroll on the portal for trial on how to generate e-way bills. Till earlier this week, 11 lakh entities had registered on the e-way bill portal, he added. This compares to 1.05cr registered businesses under the GST and about 70 lakh filing monthly returns.