The Government is releasing a bunch of new updates every other day for businesses. Practices like E-invoicing and E-way Bill have transformed the entire scenario and are on their way to rooting out the old way of doing business. Digitization is the way to go as it not only eases the entire process but brings in a lot more transparency. After all the e-invoicing updates, now the government has released some major updates in the E-way Bill system as well.

Here are all the Updates in the E-way Bill System from April 2021

• E-way Bill and HSN Code

E-way Bill cannot be generated with only SAC codes(99) for Services, a minimum of one HSN code belonging to Goods is mandatory. Earlier e-way bill generation was allowed with only SAC codes (99) for service.

Reason for this change: E-way Bill on invoices that have IRN can be generated from the e-invoice system. In the e-invoice system, there is a validation check that an e-way bill can be generated provided at least HSN of one item belongs to goods. Hence same validation is added in the e-way bill system.

• Vehicle type ODC is provisioned for transport mode ‘Ship’

For Transport Mode  “Ship”, a provision is added to set the vehicle type as “ODC”  (Over dimensional cargo). Prior to this change, there was no provision to set the vehicle type for the transport mode  “Ship”.

Reason for this change: For movement of Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC), the validity is one day for every 20 KM (instead of 100 KM), and for every 20KM or part thereof one more day is added. So, provision is also added in case of the ‘ship’ to get the extra validity period for the e-way bill.

• EWB assigned to Transporters

As per the latest change, transporters are provided with reports of e-way bills based on the assigned date as well as generation date. Earlier, EWBs were assigned to the transporters based on the generation date of e-way bills.

Reason for this change: E-way bills generated by the consignor can be assigned to the transporter on the generation date or on a later date and along with that the transporters also can assign the e-way bill  to other transporters on the generation date or on the later date. In such cases, the generation date of the e-way bills still remains the same, so based on when actually EWB is assigned to transporters, now a report is available in the e-way bill system.

For Example:

Party A has generated an active e-way bill on 20th March 2021 and later assigned it to the transporter on 26th March 2021. In this case, the e-way bill report was earlier available to the transporter only on the basis of the EWB generation date. That means on 26th March, the transporter has to select 20th March to check the e-way bill. However, from now, the transporter has the provision to check the e-way bill based on the assigned date i.e. in this case 26th March 2021.

****

Updates in the E-way Bill System in 2021

• Blocking of E-Way Bill generation facility after 1st December 2020

Rule 138E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules – 2017 states: The E-Way Bill (EWB) generation facility of a taxpayer can be restricted if the taxpayer fails to file their GSTR-3B returns or Statement in GST CMP-08, for two or more tax periods. The blocking of the EWB generation facility in the E-way bill system would be made applicable to all the taxpayers (irrespective of their Aggregate Annual Turnover (AATO) as per Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules – 2017, on the EWB Portal from 1st December 2020, onwards. So from 1st December 2020 onwards, the E-way bill System will check the status of returns filed in GSTR-3B or the statements filed in Form GST CMP-08 for whoever it is applicable and restrict the generation of EWB in case of:

• • GSTR 3B non-filing for 2 or more returns (up to October 2020)
  • If not filed for 2 or more quarters GST CMP-08 (up to July to September 2020)
  • Blocking of EWBs will take place periodically
• E- Way Bill blocking for transporters in light of E-invoicing

E-invoice mandate came into effect from 1st Oct 2020 for businesses with turnover above ₹500 CR and will be effective for businesses with turnover above ₹100 CR from 1st Jan 2021. The e-invoice system i.e. Invoice Registration Portal (IRP) is not only for obtaining the unique invoice reference number (IRN) but can also generate e-way bill if transport details are provided. As per the recent updates, the current E-way Bill system will no longer be available for generating E-way Bills on those invoices for which IRN is needed.

It is important to be aware that the blocking of the E-way Bill system has a major impact if your transporter has been generating the E-way Bills for you. Here’s the explanation:

• • IRN can be generated only by the Supplier or e-commerce operator on behalf of the supplier. Hence access to the IRP system is only for suppliers or e-commerce operators. Read E-invoicing and E-commerce operators
  • Goods can be moved only if the invoice has IRN generated. That is to say, for generating an e-way bill, it is necessary to get IRN. Read E-invoicing and E-way Bill
  • E-way Bill on invoices that have IRN can be generated only from the IRP system from Jan 2021. This needs access to the IRP system, which is available for suppliers but not transporters.

So it is only the supplier who can generate the E-way Bill with Part A and Part B slip or only Part-A slip. The subsequent actions for an e-way bill such as update Part B, Extend, etc. will continue to be done on the E-way Bill system and hence transporters can also perform these subsequent actions.

Also to note, E-invoicing is applicable for B2B and Export transactions and for documents Invoice, Debit Note and Credit Note. E-way bill for all other transactions such as B2C and document types such as delivery challan will continue to be generated from the E-way Bill System.

To Summarize:

What action:	Who can do:	Which System:
Generate IRN For B2B, Export For invoice, debit note and a credit note	Supplier E-commerce operator	IRP system Generate IRN API – to get E-way Bill (With transport details*) along with IRN OR Generate IRN API (without transport Details*) Generate E-way Bill by IRN
Generate E-way Bill For non-IRN transactions For other document types	Supplier Recipient Transporter	E-way Bill system Generate E-way Bill API
Cancel E-way Bill for IRN generated invoices	Supplier E-commerce operator	IRP system Cancel E-way Bill API Once an E-way Bill is cancelled, to generate a new E-way Bill on the same IRN invoice, the IRP system to be used
Cancel E-way Bill for non-IRN invoices	Supplier Recipient Transporter	E-way Bill system Cancel E-way Bill API
Other actions of E-way Bill for IRN as well as non IRN invoices	Supplier Recipient Transporter	Respective action APIs Actions are allowed based on the user role. For example, the recipient can reject

*Transport details determine whether only Part A slip or both Part A and Part B will be generated. If your e-way bill generation is outsourced to transporters, this blocking of the E-way Bill system for IRN invoices needs to be factored in while you are updating your systems and processes.

• E-way Bill from E-invoice System

If the E-way Bill is generated from the E-invoice System, then IRN is to be displayed on the E-way Bill print.

• Validity of E-way Bill

The validity of e-way bills for cases other than over-dimensional cargo will be calculated based on a distance of 200 km and not 100 km from 1st January 2021 onwards.

• GSTIN Status

The recipient’s GSTIN should be registered and active, on the date of preparation of the document by the supplier.

• Documentation for the E-way bill system

Document numbers are case sensitive for E-way bill generation.

• Distance Validation
  • If the Pin-to-Pin distance is known then the allowed distance for transportation is between +/- 10 % of auto-calculated PIN-PIN distance. If the auto-calculated distance is less than 100 KMs, then the allowed distance for transportation should be between 1 and +10 % of the auto-calculated PIN-PIN distance.
  • In the case of Bulk Upload, if the Pin-to-Pin distance is not known, the distance may be passed as zero. If available, the E-way bill system will automatically populate the distance. However, if the distance is not available then the error is returned. For such cases, the user has to pass the distance.
  • If the required Pin code does not exist in the E-way Bill system then at-least the first 3 digits of the pin code must match with the selected state.
• Other Country

In Bulk upload, 96 can also be passed as state code for ‘Other Country’.

Also Read:

• How to generate an E-way Bill if the goods are rejected by the recipient?
• How to Unblock GSTIN for E-way Bill Generation

*****

IRIS Topaz – Smart E-way Bill Management System

A Cloud-Based Platform that helps you manage the entire life cycle of an E-way bill system, right from the generation to updates rejection, and cancellation. IRIS Topaz is the ultimate E-way Bill solution which is designed to cater to the needs of suppliers, consignors, and transporters alike, by enabling the creation of business hierarchy and role/E-way Bill assignment to mimic your sales and dispatch processes.

Choose Smart, Choose Topaz – For a smooth and speedy E-way Bill journey