Electronic Way Bill (E-Way Bill)
Electronic Way Bill generally known as E-Way Bill is a way bill generated for the movement of goods. This was introduced under the GST Regime where a GST registered dealer, when transporting goods of value above the given threshold amount, has to mandatorily generate E-Way Bill through an online portal and provide it to the goods carrier.
E-Way Bill was introduced from 1st April 2018 and is mandatory for the movement of goods of value more than R. 50,000. This is applicable for both, inter-state and intra-state transportation.
E-Way Bill is generated at the GST Common portal and will contain details of the supplier, transporter and the recipient along with the goods details like quantity, value etc. When E-Way Bill is generated, a unique E-Way Bill Number (EBN) is made available to the supplier, recipient and transporter.
E-Way Bill under the GST regime replaces the Way Bill, which was a physical document that existed during the VAT regime for the movement of goods.
Purpose of E-Way Bill
E-way bill a compliance instrument to ensure that relevant information is uploaded before the movement of a consignment, both intra-state as well as inter-state and also encourages self-reporting by businesses.
E-Way bill primarily captures the description of goods being moved thus helping the government to automate and standardise of the entire process and help in preventing tax evasion.
In the future, the E-Way bill will be an effective mechanism for reconciling the movement of goods with GST returns. This also dissolves all non-tariff barriers, such as check posts and entry tax, so that movement of goods across states is free of all hindrances, thereby reducing transit time and enhancing supply chain efficiencies. With the use of a common electronic format, it enables businesses to save a huge amount of time that was spent at state borders on document verification.
Validity of E-Way Bill:
The validity of the E-Way Bill depends on the distance to be travelled by the goods. For a distance of less than 100 Km, the E-Way Bill will be valid for a day from the relevant date. For every 100 Km thereafter, the validity will be an additional one day from the relevant date. The “relevant date” shall mean 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 twenty-four hours.
The validity of the E-Way Bill can be extended also. The generators of E-Way Bill have to either four hours before expiry or within four hours after its expiry, extend E-Way Bill validity.
Cancellation of E-Way Bill
When an E-Way Bill has been generated, but goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill, the same can be cancelled. E-Way Bill may be cancelled electronically on the common portal or through a GST Facilitation Centre, within 24 hours of generation of the E-Way Bill. However, if any officer has already verified the bill during transit, then it cannot be cancelled.
Learn more on E-Way Bill rules. You can download the details from here.
E-Way Bill generation in Saral
In Saral, E-Way Bill generation is provided as per GST law, and an option is provided to auto-generate E-Way Bill for all related Inward/Outward transactions like DC Inward, Purchase Invoice, DC Outward, Sales Invoice, and Sales Return.
On the generation of Inward/Outward transaction, the E-Way Bill JSON file will be auto-generated and uploaded to GST Common Portal. The user is required to only verify the uploaded details and submit EBN generation. On the successful generation of EBN, the same can be printed and the details can be saved against the transaction in Saral.
Watch the video tutorial on E-Way Bill generation in Saral.
Benefits of auto E-Way Bill generation in Saral
- No manual generation of E-Way Bill
- E-Way Bill generated is as per the transactions details and as per the GST law
- E-Way Bill verification option to rectify the errors before uploading a JSON file
- Bulk E-Way Bill generation option for uploading multiple transactions at a time
E-Way Bill Configuration, Utilization and Reports in Saral
Configuration:
- Go to Inventory >> Inventory Settings >> Features tab and enable E-Way Bill option and enter Invoice Value More Than as Rs. 50000. If this field is left “0” then E-Way Bill will be generated for all transactions irrespective of the value.
- Now, go to Inventory >> Transaction Formats and select the required transaction format. Here, enable Generate E-Way JSON on Save to generate JSON and upload JSON to Common Portal for every transaction. Also, enable E-way Bill no. to enter the E-Way Bill no. in the transaction after generation.
- Then, go to Compliance Module and click on Old GST Returns. In the home page, click on Settings and enter GST E-way portal login user name and password and Save the settings.
Utilization:
- Go to Inventory and click on required transaction i.e. Inward/Outward transactions like DC Inward/Purchase Invoice/Purchase Return/Rejection Outward/DC Outward/Sales Invoice/Sales Return/Rejection Inward.
- Enter the transaction details and click on Save. You will get a message to generate E-way JSON. Click on Yes to generate and upload the JSON file.
- JSON file will upload the details to GST common portal. Verify the details and click on Submit button. E-Way
- Note that EBN generated in portal and enter it in respective transaction. To enter EBN, go to Others in transaction entry screen and enter the number at E-way bill no. field. After entry, save the transaction.
- We can generate bulk E-Way Bills for multiple transactions at a time. Go to Inventory >> E-way bill or go to Compliance module >> Old GST Returns >>E-Way Bill.
- Here, enter the period, select the respective transactions and click on Create JSON. Then, click on Upload to upload the JSON to GST common portal.
In the same window, we can enter the EBN for respective transaction under E-way bill no. column and click on Save.
Reports:
- Go to Inventory >> Views >>Transaction Register and select respective transaction type. E-Way Bill detail can be seen under E-way bill no. column.
- Also, go to Inventory >> E-way bill or go to Compliance module >> Old GST Returns >> E-Way Bill to get transaction wise EBN details.