GS 2: Governance

Why in News?

Recently, the Finance Ministry has introduced changes in the e-way bill system.

Highlights:

• The new enhanced system would come with auto-calculation of distance between the source and destination, based on the PIN codes.
• The user would be allowed to enter the actual distance as per the movement of goods, which will be limited to 10 per cent more than the auto calculated distance displayed.
• The government has decided not to permit generation of multiple e-way bills based on one invoice. It means if the e-way bill is generated once with a particular invoice number, then none of the parties — consignor, consignee or transporter – can generate another e-way bill with the same invoice number.
• The enhanced feature would permit extension of validity of the e-way bill when the goods are in transit/movement.
• The e-way bill portal would also generate a report for users on the list of e-way bills about to expire. This would help the user to analyse the data and ensure that the goods reach the destination within the valid time period.
• These enhanced features would add value to both, businesses and tax officers as the mixed bag aims at propelling ease of doing business together with acting as a deterrent for tax evaders.
• Touted as an anti-evasion tool, the electronic way or e-way bill was rolled out on April 1, 2018, for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another.
• The same for intra or within the state movement was rolled out in a phased manner from April 15.