E-Way Bill is an electronically generated document which is required to be generated for the movement of goods of more Rs. 50,000 from one place to another anywhere in India except Delhi. For movement of goods within Delhi, e-way bill is required to be created were the value of goods is more than Rs. 1 Lakhs.

This document is required to be generated online for transportation of goods irrespective of whether such transportation is inter-state or intra-state. The e-way bill generated in any state shall be valid in every state and union territory of India.

What is the date of applicability of e-way Bill in GST?

The e-way bill under GST Regime is applicable from 1st April 2018 for the movement of goods from one state to another.

For movement of goods within the state, e-way bill has been introduced in phases starting from 15th April 2018 till 16th June 2018. The phased roll-out has now been completed and e-way bill is now applicable in all the states.

The E-Way Bill under the GST Regime replaces the Way Bill which was required under the VAT Regime for the movement of Goods. The way bill under the VAT Regime was a physical document which was required to be generated for the movement of goods. The physical document under the VAT Regime has now been replaced with an electronically generated document in the GST Regime.

What is the validity of an E-Way Bill?

An e-way bill shall be valid for the period as mentioned below from the relevant date:-

DistanceValidity Period
Less than 100 km1 day
For every 100 km or part thereof1 additional day

The above validity would be applicable for everyone except in case of Over Dimensional Cargo. In case of over dimensional cargo, the validity period would be as follows from the relevant date:-

DistanceValidity Period
Less than 100 km1 day
For every 100 km or part thereof1 additional day

Meaning of Relevant Date

The relevant date for the purpose of computation of validity of the e-way bill shall be the date on which the e-way bill has been generated and the period of validity shall be counted from the time at which the e-way bill has been generated and each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way.

This can be explained with the help of an example. For eg: Mr. A generates the e-way bill at 2 PM on 2nd April. This e-way bill would be valid till mid-night of 3rd April.

In circumstances of exceptional nature, where the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may generate another e-way bill after updating the details in Part B of Form GST EWB 01.

The Commissioner may, by notification, extend the period of validity of the e-way bill for certain category of goods.

Who will generate e-way bill?

The e-way bill under the GST Regime is required to be generated by

  1. Every registered person who causes movement of Goods of consignment
    1. In relation to a supply (Eg: Sales); or
    2. For reasons other than supply (Eg: Sales Return, Branch Transfer etc); or
    3. Due to inward supply from an unregistered person
  2. Every unregistered person who causes movement of Goods.

E-Way Bill in case of Movement by Registered Person

In case the movement of goods is caused by the registered person as a consignor (i.e. seller) or the recipient of supply as a consignee (i.e. buyer), whether in his own conveyance or a hired one or by railways or by air or by vessel, the registered person or the recipient may generate the e-way bill in Form GST EWB 01 electronically on the common portal after furnishing information in Part B of Form GST EWB 01.

In case the movement of goods is caused by the registered person and handed over to the transporter for transportation by road, but the e-way bill has not been generated – it would be the responsibility of the transporter to generate the e-way bill.

The registered person shall first furnish the information relating to the transporter in Part B of Form GST EWB 01 on gst.gov.in and then, the e-way bill shall be generated by the transporter on the basis of the information furnished by the registered person in Part A of Form GST EQB 01.

Notes for furnishing details in GST EWB 01

  • HSN Code in Column A.6 shall be indicated at minimum 2 digit level for taxpayers having annual turnover upto Rs. 5 Crores in the preceeding financial year and at 4 digit level for taxpayers having annual turnover above Rs. 5 Crores in the preceeding financial year.
  • Transport Document number indicates Goods Receipt Number or Railway Receipt No. or Airway Bill No. or Bill of Lading number.
  • Place of Delivery shall be the PIN Code of the place of delivery.
  • Reason for Transportation shall be one of the following: (1) Supply, or (2) Export or Import, or (3) Job Work, or (4) SKD or CKD, or (5) Recipient not known, or (6) Live Sales, or (7) Sales Return, or (8) Exhibition or fairs (9) For own use, or (0) Others

E-Way Bill in case of Sale by Unregistered Person

In case the movement of goods is done by a person who is not registered under GST, either in his own conveyance or through a hired conveyance or through a transporter, the e-way bill in such a case shall be generated by the unregistered person himself or by the Transporter.

In other words, even if a person who is transporting the goods is unregistered, he would be required to get the e-way bill generated either himself or through the transporter who is transporting the goods.

The e-way bill shall be generated in Form GST EWB-01 on gst.gov.in. An e-way bill can be generated by the unregistered himself as well on the GST Portal even if he is not registered.

E-way Bill in case of Sale by Unregistered Person to Registered Person

If the goods are supplied by an unregistered person to a registered person and the registered person is known at the time of commencement of movement of goods, it would be deemed that the movement of goods is caused by the registered person.

In such a case, the registered person or the transporter shall complete the formalities of the e-way bill.

Responsibilities of the Transporter

  1. In case the consignor (seller) or the consignee (buyer) has not generated the e-way bill and the value of the consignment is more than Rs. 50,000, the transporter shall generate Form GST EWB 01 on the basis of invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan.
  2. Any transporter transferring goods from one conveyance to another in the course of transit shall before such transfer and further movement of goods, update the details of the conveyance in the e-way bill on gst.gov.in.
  3. In case where multiple consignments are intended to be transported in one conveyance, the transporter shall indicate the serial number of each individually generated e-way bill in respect of each such consignment electronically on the common platform and a consolidated e-way bill in Form GST EWB 02 maybe generated by him on the GST Website prior to the movement of goods.

e-Way Bill in case of Transport of Goods by Rail or Air or Vessel

In situations where the goods are transported by railways or by air or by vessel, the e-way bill shall be generated by the registered person (either the supplier or the recipient). This e-way bill shall be generated either before or after the commencement of movement of goods and the information should be furnished in Part B of Form GST EWB 01.

In case of transport of goods by Railways, the railways shall not deliver the goods unless the eway bill required under these rules is produced at the time of delivery.

e-Way Bill in case Goods transported through E-Commerce operator or Courier Agency

If the Goods to be transported are supplied through an e-commerce operator or a courier agency, on an authorisation received from the consignor, the information in Part A of Form GST EWB 01 may be furnished by such e-commerce operator or a courier agency.

Intimation of Generation of E-Way Bill

  1. Upon generation of the e-way bill, a unique e-way bill number (EBN) shall be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the GST Website who may utilise the same for furnishing the details in Form GSTR 1.
  2. The recipient shall communicate his acceptance or rejection of the consignment covered by the e-way bill within 72 hours.
  3. In case the recipient does not communicate his acceptance or rejection within 72 hours of the details being made available on the GST Website, it shall be deemed that he has accepted the said details.

Situations where E-Way Bill is not required to be generated

It is not mandatory to generate e-way bill in the following circumstances:-

  1. The goods are transported for a distance less than 10 km within the same state from the place of business of the transporter to the place of business of the consignee.
  2. The goods are transported for a distance less than 10 km within the state from the place of business of the consignor to the place of business of the transporter for further transportation.
  3. The goods are transported by a non-motorised conveyance.
  4. The goods are being transported from the port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by Customs.
  5. In respect of specified goods like Jewellery, Personal and Household effects etc which are mentioned in this list – List of Items for which eway bill is not required.
  6. In respect of movement of goods within such areas as are notified under clause (d) of sub-rule (14) of rule 138 of the Goods and Services Tax Rules of the concerned state.

In case of Transport of Goods for a distance of more than 10 km but less than 50 km – generation of e-way bill is mandatory but it is not mandatory to mention the details of the conveyance in the e-way bill.

Documents and Devices to be carried by a person-in-charge of a Conveyance

The person in charge of a conveyance shall carry:-

  1. The invoice or Bill of Supply or Delivery Challan,and
  2. A copy of the e-way bill or the e-way bill number, either physically or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device embedded on to the conveyance in such manner as may be notified by the Commissioner.

A registered person may obtain an Invoice Reference Number from gst.gov.in by uploading a tax invoice issued by him in Form GST INV 1 and produce the same for verification by the proper officer in lieu of the tax invoice and such number shall be valid for a period of 30 days from the date of uploading.

Verification of Documents and Conveyances

  1. The Commissioner or an officer empowered by him in this behalf may authorise the proper officer to intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill or the e-way bill number in physical form.
  2. The commissioner shall get Radio Frequency Identification Device readers installed at places where the verification of movement of goods is required to be carried out and verification of movement of vehicles shall be done through such device readers where the e-way bill has been mapped with the device.
  3. The physical verification of conveyances shall be carried out by the proper officer as authorised by the Commissioner or an officer empowered by him in this behalf. However, in case of receipt of specific information on evasion of tax, physical verification of a specific conveyance can also be carried out by any officer after obtaining necessary approval of the Commissioner or an officer authorised by him in this behalf.

Inspection and Verification of Goods

  1. A summary report of every inspection of goods in transit shall be recorded online by the proper officer in Part A of Form GST EWB 03 within 24 hours of inspection and final report in Part B of Form GST EWB 03 shall be recorded within 3 days of inspection.
  2. In case the physical verification of goods being transported on any conveyance has been done during transit at one place within the state, no further physical verification of the conveyance shall be carried out again unless specific information relating to evasion of tax is made available subsequently.

Other Relevant Points regarding E-Way Bill

  1. In case the value of the consignment is less than Rs. 50,000 – it is not mandatory to create the e-way bill. The e-way bill may or may not be generated in this case. In case they want to generate an e-way bill, he may generate the same at his option by following the procedure mentioned above.
  2. In case an e-way bill has been generated, but the goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the e-way bill shall be cancelled. The cancellation can be done either electronically on the GST Website directly or through a GST Facilitation Centre within 24 hours of the generation of the e-way bill.
  3. An e-way bill cannot be cancelled if it has been verified in transit.
  4. In situations where the goods are sent by a principal located in 1 State or Union Territory to a Job Worker located in any other state or union territory, the eway bill shall be generated either by the principal or the job worker, if registered, irrespective of the value of the assignment.
  5. If the handicraft goods are transported from 1 State or Union Territory to another State or Union Territory by a person who has been exempted from the requirement of obtaining GST Registration under clauses (i) and (ii) of Section 24, the e-way bill shall be generated by the said person irrespective of the value of the consignment.