States to proceed with old, new way bills
A week after the electronic way( bill was deferred on the day of its country-wide launch, companies are grappling with in consistency among states over its roll-out. Several states have notified different dates for implementing the way bill in the old and new formats to track movements of goods across and within states, causing confusion in industry. DI LAS HA SETH writes
A week after the electronic-way (e-way) bill was deferred on the day of its countrywide launch, companies are grappling with inconsistency among states over its roll-out.
Several states have notified different dates for implementation of the way bill in the old and new formats to track movement of goods across and within states, causing confusion in industry.
Gujarat has notified February 21 as the date for introducing the interstate e-way bill in the new format, while Andhra Pradesh has notified e-way bills will be applicable from February 8.
Assam, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal have said the old way bill will continue for interstate movement of consignments. Uttar Pradesh has notified February 10 for bringing back the old way bill, while Rajasthan has notified it for interstate movement for 33 commodities.
Bihar has announced a ~50,000 threshold for interstate goods movement and ~200,000 for intrastate movement for continuation under the old way bill.
Companies in industries like fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and consumer durables are apprehensive because their consignments pass through several states and rules differ in each of them.
The goods and services tax (GST) revenue slowdown had prompted the GST Council to advance the rollout of the e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods to February 1, and for intrastate carriage, the date is June 1.
The states had discontinued their old way bill mechanism on February 1, the day of the launch of the e-way bill. With the postponement of the centralised e-way bill system through the GST Network, states are bringing back their old systems. However, there is apprehension and
anxiety across sectors.
“The GST Council should ideally intervene and persuade all states to implement the system on the same date and through the common portal. The option of first introducing the interstate e-way bill should be explored, which can then be expanded to include intrastate transactions as well,” said Pratik Jain, partner, PwC India.
Bipin Sapra of EY pointed out that
the ambiguity in the requirement for way bills in each state needed to be resolved. “The industry is apprehensive of possible delays this may cause,” he added.
The e-way bill system is being developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), while other IT matters related to the GST are managed by the GST Network, a private body. An advance of ~400 million has been given to the NIC to implement the e-way bill mechanism.
“Businesses would prefer a nationwide uniform roll out of the e-way bill, initially for interstate transactions. Once the entire system is stable it can be considered for intrastate movements as well. Any business disruptions on account of the e-way bill should be avoided,” M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India.
E-way bills will help the central and state tax authorities to track movement of goods. A tax commissioner or an officer empowered by him or her will be authorised to intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill or the number in physical form for all supplies.
The law committee of the GST Council will meet on Friday to discuss issues requiring clarification and amendments in rules. The issues relate to the aggregate value of transactions and for sales returns.