More States to generate e- way bills

For intra-state movement of goods, E-way bill is required and consequently 5 states Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala, came up with it.

The electronic e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods valued over Rs 50,000 was rolled out on April 1.

On the day of inter-state roll out of e-way bill on April 1, about 2.89 lakh such bills were generated in 24 hours.

Currently, Gujarat has mandated e-way bill for intra-state movement for only 19 items including edible oil, oil cakes, ceramic tiles, iron and steel, processed tobacco, gutkha, cigarette, cement, timber products, tea, marble and granite.

“Gujarat State hereby notifies that no E-Way Bill is required to be generated for intra-city movement as well as intra-state movement of all goods within whole of the territory of the State except for intra-state movement… of 19 goods of consignment value exceeding Rs 50,000,” said the notification of the Gujarat State Tax commissioner.

Since the roll out of e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods from April 1, more than 91 lakh such bills have been generated till yesterday. Karnataka is the only state which had rolled out e-way bill system for intra-state movement of goods from April 1.

Touted as an anti-evasion measure and would help boost tax collections by clamping down on trade that currently happens on cash basis, the e-way bill provision of the goods and services tax (GST) was first introduced on February 1.

Similarly, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, all six of these were next in line to roll out e-way bills. Earlier, the e-Way bill system for intra-state movement of goods was implemented for Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala from April 15.

“In one week’s time, a draft will be prepared which will be presented before the GST Council which will take the final call on returns simplification,” said Sushil Modi.

“Enough time will be given for system to be readied after the new return design is finalised and also for people to become familiarised with the new return filing process. Till then, GSTR-3B will continue,” he said.