What is Inter-State and Intra-State E-Way Bill?
Every day, tons of products are shipped from different parts of the country to the other. Since GST was introduced, it has been made mandatory that any shipment above the value of INR 50,000 requires an e-Way Bill. It is used to monitor the bulk movement of goods and avoid tax evasion.
Image Source : Wikipedia
An e-Way bill has to be generated for transportation of goods both, within a state and between different states. Based on this, there are two different classifications of the bills - inter-state and intra-state.
Inter-State and Intra-State E-Way Bills
An interstate e-Way bill is issued for transporting goods between different states, and an intrastate e-Way bill is issued for transporting goods within the state. An e-Way bill is always associated with a unique e-Way bill number (EBN). Even if there is a break between the destination and the source and there are multiple transporters involved, the EBN for the shipment remains the same. An e-Way bill is generated for all modes of transport.
The Validity of an E-Way Bill
Image Source : Wikipedia
The e-Way bill is valid from the time it is generated. If the distance from the source to destination is less than 100 km, then the bill is valid for a day. For every additional 100 km, the validity gets extended by one more day.
How to Generate an E-Way Bill
It can be generated online by visiting this website. You will need to have the invoice or delivery challan or bill of supply for the goods. If the mode of transportation is roadways, then you will also need the vehicle number or the transporter ID. If the mode of transportation is air, rail, or waterways, then you will need a transporter ID, document number, and the date of the transport.
Image Source : PxHere
The bill has two parts - A and B. Part A includes details such as GSTIN of the recipient, the value of the goods, invoice number, transportation document number, and the reason for transportation and Part B is filled with the vehicle number of the vehicle used for transportation.
The e-Way bill can be generated by any of the following people:
1. Registered Person
A person registered under GST can generate the e-Way bill from an online portal. Every registered person is required to fill out the part A of the e-Way bill. If the registered person is also the consignee or the consignor, who either handles the transportation or hands the goods over to the transporter, then they should fill out Part B of the bill.
2. Unregistered Person
If the transportation of the goods is being initiated by an unregistered person, then the e-Way bill should be generated by the transporter or the unregistered person. If the unregistered person initiating the transport knows the recipient before the transportation and the recipient is a registered person, then the registered person will be considered as the supplier and will be responsible for filling the e-Way bill.
3. Transporter
If the supplier has not already filled out the e-Way bill, then it is the responsibility of the transporter to do the same based on the information provided by the supplier.
The interstate e-Way bill was made mandatory from 1st April 2018. But the intrastate e-Way bill was introduced in stages starting from the 15th of April and has been implemented across almost all states. The aim of introducing the e-Way bill system was to keep track of bulk trade, avoid tax evasion, and simplify the whole process for both the taxpayer and the government.