The GST Council in its 22nd meeting held on 6th October, 2017 had decided and recommended that the e-way bill under GST shall be introduced in a staggered manner with effect from 1st of January, 2018, and will be fully rolled out nationwide from the 1st of April, 2018. In other words, the implementation of the e-way bill was deferred till March 2018, so as to give businesses more time to get acclimatized to the various changes brought in by the GST era. However, at the recently concluded 24th GST council meeting held on the 16th of December, 2017, the GST Council members have sprung a surprise at the business community by announcing the e-way bill notification, to be live from the 1st of February, 2018, two months ahead of the earlier plan.
What we already know about the e-way bill?
Why has the e-way bill been preponed?
Major e-way bill notifications under GST
The major GST recommendations with regards to the e-way bill notifications are as follows:
- The nationwide e-way bill system will be rolled out on a trial basis, latest by 16th January, 2018, post which traders and transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis.
- The detailed rules for implementation of the nationwide e-way bill system for inter-State movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from 1st February, 2018.
- While the system to generate both inter-State and intra-State e-way bill will be ready by 16th January, 2018, the States may choose their own timings for implementation of e-way bill for intra-State movement of goods on any date before 1st June, 2018. However, since there are certain States which are already having a system of e-way bill for intra-State as well as inter-State movement of goods, they may be expected to be the early adopters of the national e-way bill system for intra-State movement also.
- The final deadline to implement the uniform system of e-way bill for inter-State as well as intra-State movement across the country will be, the 1st of June, 2018.
