All individuals and businesses enlisted under GST need an E-way bill for their item receipt when the total value of the products crosses Rs 50,000. E-way bills were introduced as a part of the comprehensive GST taxation law. An E-way bill is a document used by the government to monitor the movement of goods and the government has mandated it since June 2018.

For a detailed understanding of the E-way bill, login process, steps to generate an e-way bill read further.

What is an E-way bill?

The E-way bill is an abbreviated form of electronic way bill and It is a document used by the government to monitor the movement of goods. It contains all the details of the goods, the consigner, the receiver, and the transporter. It can be generated easily online or via SMS.

Upon generation of the e-way bill, a unique e-way bill number (EBN) is generated and made accessible to the supplier, transporter, and recipient for tracking the goods.

As per the GST guidelines you need to generate an E-way bill for inter-state and intrastate transport of goods before the commencement of movement. Mainly it was introduced to track goods, check tax evasions and provide a boost to the industry.

Benefits of E-way bill

The e-way bill system provides various range of benefits to industries such as

• Faster movement of goods interstate and intrastate
• Quicker turn-around times by minimizing check pints
• Improved transportation of countrywide logistics network leading to lesser traffic on major routes
• Convenient bill generation as it is generated online
• Better tax compliance
• Get timely alerts on the registered mobile number
• QR code is present in every bill for easier checking of authenticity.

Parts of an E-way bill

An E-way bill mainly has 2 parts

• Part A
• Part B

Part A contains details of the consignor, consignee, item details, supply type, and transport mode, and part B contains transporter details.

The supplier has to fill both parts A and B details and the recipient has to fill only part B Details. The supplier can authorize the transporter to fill the part A details on his behalf.

When E-way bill is required?

An E-way bill is necessary when

• Transporting goods of value more than Rs50,000 irrespective of the mode of transportation used
• Moving goods outside the state for job work irrespective of the value of goods
• Transporting handicraft products irrespective of the value of goods
• Transporting goods to a distance of more than 50km.

The transporter needs to carry transport documents, invoices, supply bills, and delivery challan with the e-way bill number mentioned during transporting the goods.

When E-way bill is not required?

It is unnecessary to generate an E-way bill when

• You are transporting goods within a distance of 20km
• Transporting goods by non-motorized vehicle
• Place of departure is from the port, airport, or cargo station where the customs department is given clearance.
• Transporting exempted goods irrespective of their value.

How to register for an E-way bill?

To generate e-way bills at first you need to first register on the E-way bill portal online

Steps to register

• Visit the official e-way bill registration portal
• Click on the registration tab and click E-way bill registration
• Enter your unique GSTIN and fill the captcha code and enter
• Carefully check the auto-populated details and verify them by OTP
• Create a new user ID and password for E-way bill log in

How to generate an E-way bill online?

Step 1 -Log in at the official E-way bill portal using your username and password

Step 2 -Click on generate new under E-way bill drop down options

Step 3 -Fill in the respective entries like

• Transaction type - Select outward if you are a supplier or Select inward if you are a recipient
• Sub-type – select the subtypes based on whether you are a supplier or receiver
• Document type, number, and date - select the document type and give the invoice number and date on it.
• Destination details
• Item details - add particulars of the products along with their HSN code, name, description, quantity, tax rates, and cess charges (in case any).
• Transporter details- mode of transportation, distance to be covered, transport documents, and vehicle number.

Step 4 -after providing all the details click on submit.

After your request has been processed an E-way bill be generated with a unique 12 digit number (EBN)

Generating E-way bills through SMS

If you find the online E-way bill generation complicated and you are in an emergency, you also generate it via SMS using an SMS-based e – way bill generation facility. First, you need to register your mobile number, and then you can generate and cancel bills anytime using the correct set of SMS codes.

Validity of an E-way bill

The validity of the E-way bill is based on the distance to be traveled.

• In case of transportation through the ship, the e-way bill will be valid, applied one day before for every 200 km of travel.
• E-way bill once generated was valid for 1 day up to 200 km and after that one more day will be permitted. In the case of multimodal shipment where At least one leg is in the ship then 1-day validity of e way bill is relevant for 20 km.

Cancellation of E-way bill

In case, an E-way bill is generated but the goods are not transported or not delivered according to the details furnished, the bill will be canceled electronically or directly through the facilitation center within 24 hrs of generation of the e-way bill. But if the bill has been verified in transit as per rules then cancellation is not possible.

Exemption from E-way bill listings

The central government has recently announced a list of items that are exempted from e-way bill listings. These items are common-use items and are considered to be exempted.

The list of exempted items are:

• Milk
• Fruits and vegetables
• Live animals
• LPG
• Seeds, honey, cereals, pulses
• Earthen pots and clay pots
• Hearing aids
• Raw silk