e-way Bill to be Made Compulsory from February, 2018

The 24th Meeting of the GST Council was held through video conference.

Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley headed the meeting.

e-Way Bill

During the meeting, the council discussed the implementation of the e-way bill which is an electronic way of tracking movement of goods -- system.
The nationwide e-way Bill system will be rolled out on a trial basis latest by 16th January 2018. Trade and transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from 16th January 2018.
E-way Bill Rules for Implementation on National Level for Interstate movement of goods will be started by -1 February, 2018. Full implementation will take place from June 1.

Reasons to implement

The reason to implement e-way bill is to track the movement of goods above Rs 50,000 within the state, and from one state to another. It will try to check GST evasion and will help to match the

mismatches invoices and shorten the delays in matching them. The e-way bill is being seen as a panacea to check GST evasion.

Implementation

Any good worth Rs 50,000 or above needs an e-way bill if it has to go beyond 10 kms. Any person or firm registered under GST will generate the e-way bill - including the transporter. The e-way bill needs to be generated before the good is moved, and it has a limited validity period based on the distance covered. For up to 100 kms, an e-way bill is valid for 1 day. For 200 km, it is valid for 2 days and so on. 

If the good fails to be shipped on the date of generation, the e-way bill can be cancelled within 24 hours. If a mode of transport is changed, a fresh e-way bill needs to be generated. If some goods are sent back by the receiver, another e-way bill needs to be generated.