E Way Bill Login – Know How To Generate And Its Purpose

Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, transporters pay taxes to the government through an eway billing system. This system was launched on April 1, 2018. An eway bill is a unique bill number generated for movement of consignments of good. This guide will elaborate on an eway bill, its requirement and the process to generate an e bill.

 

What is eway bill?

The eway bill, also referred to as the electronic way bill, is a document that is required to transport goods worth Rs 50,000 or more that are part of a single invoice/bill or a delivery challan, within a particular state or across Indian states. Under Section 68 of the Goods and Services Tax Act, an eway bill must be generated by registered people or transporters before the start of movement of goods.

 

Also read all about GST on flat purchase

Purpose of eway bill

An e way bill ensures that transported goods comply with the GST law. It acts as a tool to track the movement of goods and prevent tax evasion.

 

Do we need to generate e-way bill under all circumstances?

No, eway bill has to be generated in specific cases mentioned below.

 

When is an e way bill generated?

The e-way bill is required to transport goods worth Rs 50,000 or more. This transport could be for:

• Sale
• Supply
• Return
• Transfer
• Barter
• Exchange

For any such consignment, e way bills must be generated on the common portal.

Although certain types of goods are exempted from eway bill payment, the movement of handicraft goods or goods for work purpose under specified circumstances requires an e-way bill even when the value of the consignment is below Rs 50,000.

 

 

eWay bill exemption

According to Provision 138 (14) of the CGST rules, eway bill is not required for transport of:

• Crude petroleum
• High-speed diesel
• Petrol
• Natural gas
• Aviation turbine fuel
• LPG meant to be supplied to households and non-domestic exempted categories
• Kerosene oil sold under PDS
• Postal baggage by postal department
• Precious or semi-precious stones and natural or cultured pearls
• Precious metals and metals clad with precious metals
• Jewellery, goldsmith and silversmith wares and other articles
• Currency
• Used personal and household effects
• Coral
• Alcoholic liquor for human consumption
• Goods in a non-motor vehicle
• Goods from customs port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station to inland container depot or container freight station for clearance by Customs
• Goods under Customs supervision or Customs seal
• Goods under Customs Bond from ICD to Customs port or from one Custom station to another
• Goods by Defence Ministry
• Empty cargo containers
• Transit cargo to or from Nepal or Bhutan
• Goods by rail by central or state governments or local authorities
• Goods exempted from eway bill requirements under the SGST rules
• Goods meant for weighment purpose where the distance is not more than 20 kms from the consignor’s place of the business to the weighbridge and vice-versa
• Consignment with value less than Rs 50,000

Pre-requisites to generate an e way bill

• Bill or tax invoice of supply or delivery challan
• Transporter’s ID
• Transporter’s document number
• Vehicle number
• The person generating the eway bill should be registered on the GST portal and the eway bill portal
• If the person is not registered, he has to enroll on the e-waybill portal (ewaybillgst.gov.in) before generating the e-way bill.

 

 

Documents to generate eway bill

• Registered mobile number
• Product details
• Details of the recipient
• Details of the transporter
• Transport ID
• Tax invoice
• Invoice, challan or supply bill

 

Modes of eway bill generation

An e way bill can be generated using the following methods:

• Through a web-based system
• Through SMS
• Through an Android app
• Through bulk generation facility
• Through site-to-site integration
• Through Goods and Services Tax Suvidha provider

 

E-way bill format

An e way bill has two parts.

Details in E way bill – Part 1

• GSTIN of supplier/recipient
• Place of dispatch with PIN code of the area
• Place of delivery with PIN code of the area
• Invoice/challan number, date and value of goods
• HSN code
• Reason for transport

See also: All about GST search and GST number check

Details in E way bill – Part 2

• Vehicle number
• Document number
• Transporter document number/defence vehicle number/temporary vehicle registration number/Nepal or Bhutan vehicle registration number.

 

How to generate an eway bill?

An e-way bill can be generated on the official portal, ewaybillgst.gov.in, or through SMS or an android app. Once an e way bill is generated, the supplier, the recipient and the transporter receive the unique eway bill number, which can be used by all of them to initiate the transportation of goods from one place to another.

 

Read our guide on eway bill login to understand the process in detail.

 

Who can generate an eway bill?

A registered consignor or consignee or a transporter of the goods can generate the e-way bill. An unregistered transporter can enrol on the common portal and generate the e-way bill for their clients. Any citizen, who is a registered user, can generate the e-way bill for their own use.

 

How to reject an eway bill?

 

The person who causes transport of goods has to generate an e-way bill specifying the details of other person as a recipient of goods. There is a provision in the common portal for the recipient to either accept or reject the eway bill. If the acceptance or rejection is not communicated within 72 hours from the time of generation of eway Bill or the time of delivery of goods whichever is earlier, it will be deemed that he has accepted the details.

• To reject the eway biil, login to the e-way bill portal
• Click on ‘Reject’ appearing on the left-hand side of the dashboard.
• Select the date on which the e-way bill was generated.
• Click on ‘Submit’.
• A list of E-way bills that was generated on the selected date will appear.
• Tick mark against the e-way bill you want to reject on the right-hand side.
• You get a message on the screen once the e-way bill is successfully rejected.

 

Validity of e way bill

The validity of an e way bill depends upon the distance of transportation.

 

Over dimensional cargo*	For distance of up to 20 kms	1 day
Over dimensional cargo	For every additional 20 kms beyond the first 20 kms	Extra one day
Consignment other than over dimensional cargo	For distance of up to 200 kms	1 day
Consignment other than over dimensional cargo	For every additional 200 kms beyond the first 200 kms	Extra one day

* Over dimensional cargo refers to cargo that is a single indivisible unit that exceeds the dimensions prescribed under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 93.

 

The validity of an eway bill expires at the midnight of the last day. The validity of the e way bill starts when the first entry is made in Part 2 at the time when vehicle entry is made in case of road transportation or transport document number entry is made for rail/air/ship transportation.

Hence, suppose an e-way bill is generated at 12:04 PM on March 14, the first day would end on March 15 at 12:00 in the night. The second day will end at 12:00 in the night of March 16.

 

Error in eway bill

In case there is any error or mistake in your eway bill, you will have to cancel it and generate a new eway bill with the correct details. There is no option to rectify an eway bill that has already been generated.

 

Can an e-way bill be modified or edited?

Once generated, an e-way bill cannot be edited or modified. Only Part-B can be updated. However, if e-way bill is generated with wrong information, it can be cancelled and generated afresh. The cancellation is required to be done within 24 hours from the time of generation.

Process of updating vehicle number on eway bills

 

• Login with your username and password on the EWB portal.

 

• Select ‘Update Vehicle No’ under the e-Waybill option on the left hand side of the dashboard.

 

• Select Under Show e-Way Bill, either select e-Way Bill No or Generated Date.

 

• Click on the ‘Go’ option.

 

• Select the relevant bill for which you want to update the vehicle number.

 

• Enter the vehicle number, from place.

 

• Select the reason for the change from the dropdown.

 

• Click on the ‘Submit’ button.

eWay bill cancellation

An e way bill can be cancelled electronically on the official portal within 24 hours of its generation. However, an eway bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit, as per the provisions of rule 138B of the CGST Rules, 2017.

 

Penalty on transporting goods without eway bill

Under Section 122 of the CGST Act, 2017, you are liable to a penalty of Rs 10,000 or the tax that you are trying to evade, whichever is greater, in case you are transporting goods without an eway bill. Under Section 129 of CGST Act, 2017, all such goods and conveyances are liable to detention or seizure. 

 

Eway bill FAQs

What is an eway bill?

An eway bill is short form of Electronic Way Bill.

Where do you generate an eway bill?

The eway bill login portal, https://ewaybillgst.gov.in/, is the official website for generation of e-way bills. You can also cancel an eway bill on this platform.

Do I have to keep eway bill printout?

It is not mandatory to keep an eway bill printout.

Can I extend the validity of the e-way bill?

Yes, the validity of the e-way bill can be extended, if the goods cannot reach the destination within the validity period, owing to exceptional circumstances like natural calamity, trans-shipment delay or accident of conveyance, or law and order issues. The transporter needs to explain the reason while extending the validity period of an e-way bill.

How to extend the validity period of an e way bill?

The validity of an e way bill can be extended on the official portal 8 hours before or after the expiry of the validity period. The transporter will need to enter the e-way bill number and enter the reason for extension request, the approximate distance to be covered from the current place to the destination and all the Part-2 details.