The GST Council might raise the Rs-50,000 minimum threshold for generating e-waybills to prevent tax officers from harassing suppliers unnecessarily, the Economic Times reported on Monday. A proposal to this effect could be taken up at the next GST council meeting on August 5, the report said, quoting an unidentified official. An e-waybill is an electronic permission granted to move goods that have a value greater than Rs 50,000.
The e-waybill system under the GST regime was expected to make the movement of goods across the country smoother by digitising the process of obtaining the permission to do so. Earlier, tax authorities would hand out physical waybills. The online system also helps account for the movement of goods above a certain threshold.
The bill can be generated on the GST network website by registered suppliers of goods. The validity of the bill varies from a day-long bill, which is valid for travel up to 100 kilometres, to 15 days which is valid for 1,000 kilometres.
As all existing tax check-posts became invalid after the GST was implemented, the e-waybill empowered tax officials to intercept commercial vehicles for inspections instead. There are fears that this will prove too tedious a task for transporting and shipping companies such as courier firms, which are likely to end up generating 10 crore e-waybills for their three crore parcels a day.
The GST council is yet to decide on laws governing e-waybills as states are divided on the framework and procedures required to make it a smooth transition for companies across the country.
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