E-way bill generation dipped
to 9.66 crore in April
The
decline in e-way bill generation indicates a likely dip in May GST collection
number after recording all-time high number in March, e-way bill generation
dipped to 9.66 crore in April. This could have some impact on Goods and
Services Tax (GST) collection number for May, which will be made public on June
1.
Traditionally,
March has been recording very high e-way bill generation on account of fiscal
year inventory cleaning exercise. However, first year of fiscal year sees
lesser movement of goods, and thus affecting e-way bill generation.
In
March, 10.35 crore e-way bills were generated and GST collection in April
touched an all-time high of ₹2.10-lakh crore. In March last year, e-way
bills were 9.09 crore, a record at that time, and collection in April was
₹1.87-lakh crore, all-time high at that time. However, in April last
year, e-way bill generation dropped to 8.44 crore and consequently collection
in May slipped to ₹1.57-lakh crore.
What
is an e-way bill
An
e-way bill is an electronic document generated on a portal, evidencing the
movement of goods. It also indicates whether tax has been paid for the moving
goods. As per Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, every registered person
involved in the movement of goods (which may not necessarily be on account of
supply) of consignment value of more than ₹50,000 (can be lower for
intra-state movement) is required to generate an e-way bill.
March
was the second month since the introduction of an e-way bill in 2018 when
generation has crossed 10 crore in a month. Previous all-time high was in
October when 10.03 crore e-way bills were generated.
In
FY24, barring November, e-way bill generation was more than nine crore between
August and March. Also, the last seven out of 12 months saw more than nine
crore bill generations and two out of these seven months recorded 10 crore
plus.
GST-e-way
bill linkage
Experts
believe though e-way bills have been long prevalent in the indirect tax space,
the linkage with e-invoicing under the GST regime and the moving squads
enforcing implementation have resulted in corresponding supplies being brought
under the GST net.
The
sustained growth in e-way bill generation also points towards the effectiveness
of technology-driven scrutiny and compliance mechanisms implemented by
regulatory authorities.
www.thehindubusinessline.com dt. 08-05-2024