Importance Of An E-Way Bill Management App for Transporters

For the movement of goods across India, Regulatory compliance has taken centre stage for the movement of goods across India since the introduction of E-Way Bills in 2018. The movement usually involves a transporter or fleet owner and the consignee, who sends the shipment. The mandate requires either of the parties to register the shipment with the government portal and generate e-way bill for any of the intra and/or inter-state transportation of goods depending on certain specifications. But it becomes difficult to track and manage the vehicles for transporters with large fleets.

Furthermore, moving goods without an invoice and e-way bill can attract heavy fine. As per the provisions of the CGST (Central Goods and Services Tax) Act, it can attract a penalty of Rs 10,000 or the tax sought to be evaded (whichever is greater). Read: Penalties, Confiscation, Detention & Seizure on Non-generation of E-way Bill.

For a transporter, not managing an e-way bill properly can spell trouble and have serious repercussions. The vehicle transporting the goods without an e-way bill can be detained or seized and would be released only on the payment of appropriate tax and penalty. The consequences are not only legal but can seriously affect taxpayers and transporter’s reputations and the supply chain.

Nowadays, there are various software and mobile apps for the rescue of transporters. It can help them easily manage their activities related to e-way bills. These modern-day e-way bill management apps are not only user friendly but also innovative and offer a gamut of services from the comfort of your mobile device. You just need to select the right one as per your requirements.

But, before we dive deep into the importance of an e-way bill management app for transporters, let us first understand what an e-way bill is and how they get generated.

E-way bill under GST

Going by the definition of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), the e-way bill under GST is an electronic document generated on the e-way bill portal. It mandates that prior to the commencement of the transportation of goods, every registered person should furnish the details of the goods and vehicle to the portal and generate an e-way bill.

An e-way bill has two components: Part A, which needs to be furnished by the person causing the movement of goods; and Part B, comprising transporter details (vehicle number), which needs to be furnished by the person transporting the goods. Once the e-way bill on the common portal gets generated, a unique e-way bill number (EBN) is assigned. This number must be made available to the supplier, the recipient, and the transporter on the common portal.

What are the ramifications of breaking e-way bill rules?

All the transporters need to be registered under the GST Act. However, those who are not registered and are causing the movement of goods for their clients need to register on the e-way bill portal to get a 15-digit unique TRANSIN, or Transporter Id.

Section 122 of the CGST Act, 2017, states that transportation of any taxable goods without an e-way bill will be considered a contravention of the rules and liable to a penalty. As per the provisions of the Act, all such goods, and means of transportation used for carrying the said goods, and documents relating to those goods and conveyance shall be liable to confinement or seizure.

E-way bill management app for transporters

Rules have been made, and their adherence is binding. Regulatory compliance under GST for the movement of goods, whether intra- or inter-state, is a must and may not be easy for large fleet owners or transporters to keep a record of.

Even for a smaller transporter, it can be a tiresome task to generate several e-way bills manually for a multitude of consignments every day. The process is complicated because there are numerous stakeholders involved.

An E-way bill management app like EasyWay Bill can be a one-stop solution for all the intricacies. They can manage all the worries once an e-way bill is generated, right from the applicability to avoiding penalties and seizures.

Why is it important to have an efficient e-way bill management app?

Managing Regulations: E-way bill management apps can resolve all the regulatory and non-regulatory worries faced by transporters and suppliers.

Handling Complex Issues: The traditional way of manual e-way bill management cannot handle the growing complexities and could result in financial losses for transporters in the event of a discrepancy. It can severely affect their productivity as well.

Transparency: There are several issues that crop up due to a lack of transparency that leads to inefficiency in the transportation system. E-way bill management apps can easily help overcome the transparency issue and improve visibility in the process. It can assist transporters centralize e-way bill generation as well as its management.

Multi-State E-way Bills: An efficient e-way bill management app can help the transporter consolidate multi-state e-way bills for various business units. It can also create checks for the entire fleet, resulting in more control and improved performance.

Aspects of the e-way bill that require special attention

There are various complicated aspects of e-way bill management, like generating e-way bills even for individual consignments whose value is less than Rs. 50000, multiple consignments (with e-way bills generated individually) being carried in the same vehicle; multiple vehicles carrying the same consignment; cancellation of e-way bills in case goods are either not transported or are not transported as per the details furnished in the e-way bill. All these issues need special attention, as even a small miss can cause a failure to comply with regulatory requirements.

E-way bill management apps can handle workflow customization for transporters to generate consolidated e-way bills at the time of goods dispatch. They adopt a data-driven approach and can offer integrated compliance services like FASTag and RFID systems mandated by authorities.

Also Read: E-way Bill no more in Silos – RFID, VAHAN, FASTag, GSTR 1 & E-invoicing

What qualities should you look for in a competent e-way bill management app?

Easy To Use: One of the most important criteria for selecting an e-way bill management app for transporters should be its user-friendliness. The app is required to handle multiple activities, and if it is not user friendly, then the purpose of adopting it gets defeated.

Automated: In the era of AI (artificial intelligence) and automation, businesses are looking for transporters who are fully equipped and IT-enabled to handle any kind of exigency. At no point in time, they like their operations to be affected due to the detainment of goods and the seizure of vehicles due to an invalid e-way bill.

Besides, there are various other desirable features in an e-way bill management app, including
Transporters’ e-way bill management app must have some customizable features based on their needs.
Data validation facility to overcome the errors and correct them in time.
The e-way bill management app should include services like e-way bill updation, vehicle tracking, and route planning.
E-way bill expiry alerts and bulk updates of e-way bills with functions to extend their validity.
To manage the fleet and determine the validity of an e-way bill, use a pin code-based auto-distance calculator.

All these functionalities of an e-way bill management app like Easyway Bill App can help transporters conduct their operations in a more organized and transparent manner and help them make informed decisions, boosting their operational efficiency and reducing costs.