Eway bill: E-way Bill Definition, System, Generation & Login Process in Easy Words

What is Eway Bill?

The Electronic Way Bill (eway Bill) is a required compliance document in which the person causing the movement of goods uploads necessary information via a digital platform prior to the movement of the goods and generates an eway bill on the GST site.
Without an eway bill generated on www.ewaybillgst.gov.in, a GST registered business cannot move goods in a vehicle with value exceeding Rs. 50,000 (Single Invoice/Delivery Challan).

Eway bills can also be generated or cancelled through SMS, Android App, or API-based site-to-site connectivity. A unique Eway Bill Number (EBN) is assigned to each eway bill and is available to the provider, recipient, and transporter.

What is Eway Bill System: One Tax, One Market, One eway Bill

On April 1, 2018, the Indian government launched the eway bill system to trace the movement of commodities. Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the eway Bill System replaces the manual or paper-based Way Bills (also known as road licenses/permits) that were necessary for the movement of goods in most states under the previous VAT regime.

While the system was initially solely relevant to interstate goods movement, states have gradually approved and implemented the new system, requiring the issuance of eway bills for intrastate goods movement as well. Since then, the number of eway bills issued on the new platform has constantly increased.

EWay Bill Generation Requirement

 Cases Where EWay Bill Generation is Required

An eway bill is required move goods interstate, in a vehicle with a value exceeding Rs. 50,000 (Single Invoice/Delivery Challan).

Cases Where EWay Bill Generation is Not Required

It is not essential to generate eway Bil in the following situations:

1. The mode of transportation is non-motorized conveyance.
2. Goods that are supervised by Customs or are sealed by Customs.
3. Goods that are carried under a Customs Bond from an ICD to a Customs port or from one custom station to another.
4. Goods listed in the various State/Union territory GST Rules as exempt from eway bill requirements.
5. Cargo moved to or from Nepal or Bhutan in transit.
6. Movement of products induced by defence formations acting as consignors or consignees under the Ministry of Defense.
7. Cargo containers that are empty are being carried.
8. Consignor conveying products 20 kilometres between his or her place of business and a weighbridge for weighing, accompanied by a Delivery challan.
9. Goods transferred to the Inland Container Depot (ICD) or Container Freight Station (CFS) for Customs clearance from a Customs port, airport, air cargo complex, or land customs station.
10. The Central Government, State Governments, or a municipal body are the consignors of commodities being transported by rail.
11. Transportation of certain specified goods- Includes the list of exempt goods supplies, Annexure to Rule 138(14), items classified as no supply under Schedule III, and specific schedules to Central Tax Rate notifications.

Note: If the distance between the consignor or consignee and the transporter is less than 50 kilometres and the transportation is within the same state, Part B of the eway Bill does not need to be filled out.

EWay Bill Generation Process

To keep a check on the rising pollution levels, the government introduced BS6 pollution norms. BS6 norms came into effect from 1 April 2020 to address the growing concerns related to air pollution. Here is the key difference between BS6 and BS4:

Step 1: Go to the eway bill site and log in. Click ‘Login’ after entering your Username, Password, and Captcha code.

Step 2: From the dashboard’s ‘e-Waybill’ section, select the ‘Generate New’ option.

Step 3: Fill in the following fields:

Type of transaction:
If you are the sender, choose ‘Outward.’
If you are the receiver, choose ‘Inward.’

Type of document:
Choose the document’s format. If not, it could be an invoice, bill, challan, credit note, bill of entry, or something else.

No. of Document:
Enter the invoice/document number.

Date of the document:
Choose the invoice or challan date.

Details about the item:
In this area, fill in the consignment’s details (HSN code-by-HSN code).

Details of the transporter:
It is required to specify the mode of transportation and the distance travelled by the transporter.

Step 4: Press the ‘Submit’ button. If there are any errors, the system checks the data and displays an error message. Your eway bill will be generated if there are no errors. It will be identified by a 12-digit number.

Document Required for EWay bill Generation

To generate an eway bill under GST, keep the following documents and information on hand:

1. Tax Invoice: If you wish to generate an eway bill, the tax invoice is the most significant document.
2. All OTP and verification codes will be produced on the registered cellphone number, therefore it should be with the user.
3. Product information: You must also provide the product’s information in order for it to be carried properly.
4. Recipient information: The recipient’s information should also be filled out correctly.
5. Transporter information: Transporter information should also be with you. If the vehicle information in the eway bill are not updated, the eway bill will be invalid.

Validity of Eway Bill

The validity of an eway bill is determined by the distance that the items must travel. The eway bill will be valid for one day from the relevant date if the distance is less than 100 kms. Following that, for every 100 kms travelled, the validity will be extended by one day from the relevant date. The relevant date is the date on which the eway bill was generated, and the validity period is calculated from the moment the eway bill was generated, with each day being considered as 24 hours.

Eway Bill Login Process

Step 1: Visit https://ewaybill.nic.in/ to access eway bill creation portal login.
Step 2: Fill in unique combination of username and password to login to eway bill portal.