What is an E-way Bill? 

E-Way Bill is like a digital passport for moving goods. If you're a business registered under GST and transporting goods worth more than Rs. 50,000 in a vehicle, you need to generate an E-Way Bill. This bill is created on the GST common portal or through SMS, an Android App, or by integrating your systems with the portal using API. Double-check the GST identification numbers (GSTIN) of all parties involved. Once generated, the bill gets a unique number (EBN), which is shared with the supplier, recipient, and transporter.

When is it applicable? 

An E-Way bill is required when goods worth over Rs. 50,000 are transported in a vehicle. This includes sales, returns, or receiving goods from unregistered suppliers. This covers various transactions like sales, transfers between branches, or barter/exchange deals. The E-Way bill must be generated on a common portal for all these movements. For certain specified Goods, the E-way bill needs to be generated mandatorily even if the value of the consignment of Goods is less than Rs. 50,000. These include inter-state movements of goods from a principal to a job worker and the inter-state transport of handicraft goods by a GST-exempt dealer.

Requirements to generating an E-way Bill -

The requirements to generate an E-way Bill are as follows - 

• Registration on EWB Portal. 

• The Invoice/Bill/Challan related to the consignment of goods must be on hand

• If transportation is by road, the Transporter ID or the vehicle number must be on hand

• If transportation is by rail, air, or ship, the Transporter ID, Transport document number, and the date on the document must be on hand

Step-by-step process to generate an E-way Bill

Step 1 - Access the E-Way bill generation portal at https://ewaybill.nic.in/ and enter the login details to enter the platform.

Step 2 - Click on the “Generate New” option from the E-Way bill- Main menu page to create a new E-Way bill.

Step 3 - A new EWB bill generation form appears. Fill in the details required similar to creating a GST invoice.

• Transaction Type: Select ‘Outward’ if you are a supplier of consignment 

                                         Select ‘Inward’ if you are a recipient of consignment.

• Sub-type: Select the relevant sub-type applicable to you.

• Document type: Select either Invoice / Bill/ challan/ credit note/ Bill of entry or others if not Listed

• Document No. : Enter the document/invoice number

• Document Date: Select the date of the Invoice challan or Document.

Note: The system will not allow the user to enter the future date.

• From/ To: Depending on whether you are a supplier or a recipient, enter the to / From section details.

Note: If the supplier/client is unregistered, then mention ‘URP’ in the field GSTIN, indicating that the supplier/client is an ‘Unregistered Person’

Step 4 - The second half of the page will contain information to be filled as follows:

• Product Name and Description must be completed similarly to a tax invoice.

• HSN Code for the Product must be entered. Click here to find the HSN code.

• Quantity and Unit of the goods.

• Value of the products along with Tax rate.

• IGST or CGST Rates are applicable. IGST would be applicable for inter-state transport and SGST / CGST for intra-state transport.

• Approximate distance of transport along with Transporter Name and Transporter ID. This shall determine the validity of the E-Way bill.

Step 5 - Generate an E-Way Bill

After filling in all the necessary details, click on the “SUBMIT” button to create the EWB. The Portal shall display the E-Way bill containing the E-Way Bill number and the QR Code that contains all the details in the digital format. The printed copy of the bill should be provided to the transporter who will carry it throughout the trip until it is handed over to the consignee.

The E-Way Bill generated looks like this:

Step 6 - Consolidate E-Way Bill Generation

A consolidated EWB can also be created which contains all the details on the transaction and is also easy to create by providing just the ‘E-Way bill number’ in the required field. Click on “SUBMIT” to generate the consolidated EWB.

Contents & validity of e-Way Bill

• Contents of PART - A of Form EWB - 01 can't be edited or modified once generated. PART - B can be updated with Vehicle details/ RR/Airway Bill etc.

• Consolidated e-Way Bill can be generated for vehicles carrying multiple consignments.

• The Validity of the e-Way Bill is fixed as one day for every 200 Km or part thereof. The validity can be extended online before the expiry.