WHAT IS AN eWAY BILL?
An eWay bill is a receipt which transporters need to carry with them while transporting the material or goods at different places under the Goods and Service Tax Law. For goods amounting to Rs. 50,000 or more, the movement from one place to another in any type of conveyance or vehicle required an electronically generated bill for identification and approval for the movement by a GST registered entity or person. This bill can be generated through the website www.ewaybillgst.gov.in or through the mobile app or SMS or API through site integration. A unique code called eWay bill number EBN is generated when any eWay bill is generated which is made available to all the parties in logistics, transporter, supplier, and recipient.

WHEN IS AN eWAY BILL REQUIRED?
An eWay bill will be issued in case of a movement of goods of value more than Rs. 50,000 which may either be of a whole convoy or a single commodity in a convoy from one place to another. This movement of goods can be because of any of the following-
1. Supplying of raw material or other things
2. Returns or exchange or purposes other than supply
3. Inward supply through unregistered entity

The term supply used above may refer to any of the these-
a. A supply against payment in business
b. A supply made against payment out of business
c. Supply without any payment which may be the sale of goods and payment later or movement of goods on transfer or relocation or Exchange of goods due to any reason
Whichever the case may be, an eWay bill needs to be generated from the eWay portal for any such movement.
There are special cases under which goods which do not even amount to Rs. 50,000 also need to be tagged along with an eWay bill; they may be:
1. Fetching of handicrafts by a retailer or dealer or purchaser between two different states who is exempted from GST registration
2. Inter-state movement of goods by the principal to job-worker by the principal or registered job-worker

WHO NEEDS TO GENERATE AN eWAY BILL?
The eWay bill should be generated by:
1. Registered person
2. Unregistered person
3. Transporter

REGISTERED PERSON: In case of a movement of goods amounting to Rs. 50000 or more, an eWay bill needs to be generated through the portal or other means. Even if the value of goods is under Rs. 50000, the bill can be generated.

UNREGISTERED PERSON: An eWay bill is also required in case of transportation by an unregistered person. In such cases, if the exchange is made from an unregistered person to a registered one, it is the onus of the latter to makes sure all formalities are complete.

TRANSPORTER: In case the supplier has missed on generating or providing with an eWay bill to a transporter, it is required of the transporter to generate on while carrying goods by air, rail or road.

The following people are required to generate eWay bills while moving goods:
1. GST Registered person
2. A registered person acts as a recipient or consignee or consignor
3. A registered person acts as consignor or consignee and transporter takes over the goods
4. Transporter
5. GST unregistered person but the recipient is registered
Note: A single consolidated bill can be generated in case there is a large-scale movement of goods wherein a separate eWay bill is issued to every consignment.

WHEN IS AN eWAY BILL NOT REQUIRED?
The following are the cases when an eWay bill is not required when goods are transported under:
1. Transport is not done by a motor vehicle
2. Goods are transported from land customs station to ICD (Inland Container Depot), customs port, airport, air cargo complex or container freight station for clearance by customs.
3. Customs seal or customs supervision
4. Customs bond from ICD to the customs port
5. Cargos from Bhutan or Nepal
6. Goods moved under Ministry of Defence’s order
7. Empty cargo containers
8. The consignor is making the move is within 20 Km of business and weighbridge
9. Central or state governments are the consignor and transportation is being made by rail
10. Exemption rules in GST law

GENERATING eWAY BILL
The generation of an eWay bill is quite easy. A valid portal login credential is the only requirement for the generation of such bill through the eWay bill portal.

VALIDITY OF eWAY BILL
The validity of an eWay bill is subject to factors like type of consignment and distance traveled. Here are the details;

Over dimensional cargo-
o Less than 20 km- 1 day
o Every additional 20 km- additional 1 day
Other than over dimensional cargo-
o Less than 100 km- 1 day
o Every additional 100 km- additional 1 day
Note: the validity of eWay bill can be increased by extending the limit 4 hours before or 4 hours after expiry.

LIST OF DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO GENERATE eWAY BILL
1. Challan or invoice or bill of supply
2. If transporting by road then transporter ID or Vehicle Number
3. If transporting by rail, air, or ship- Transporter ID, Transport document number, and date on the document