Auto calculation of distance between two pincodes

In a move that will help taxpayers, the GST officials said the distance between two PIN codes for a shipment will be calculated automatically at the time of generation of an e-way bill under the goods and services tax (GST).

This is expected to reduce discrepancies in e-way bills generated by transporters, which not only lead to queries from tax officials, but also in generation of an e-way bill.

The GST Network, the information technology backbone, which, along with the National Informatics Centre, manages the e-way bill system, has floated a request for proposal (RFP) for service providers who can automate the process of calculating the distance between two PIN codes within the e-way bill system.

An e-way bill, an electronic documentation of movement of goods, was rolled out primarily as an anti-tax evasion measure to prevent non-reporting or under-reporting of transactions. It has to be generated for all movement of goods within or outside a state through online registration of a consignment. The supplier and the transporter can upload the details about the shipment and get a unique e-way bill number.

While an e-way bill has to be generated for movement of all goods between states valued at over Rs.50,000, the threshold varies from state to state.