INSPECTION OF GOODS IN MOVEMENT UNDER GST - PART 2

Section 68 of CGST Act, 2017 deals with inspection of goods in movement for which e-way bills are basic pre-requisite for movement of goods from one place to another and also for inspection of goods in movement.

E-way Bills

The term 'E-way Bill' has not been defined in the GST Act or rules. However, it would mean:

A document or a device

Which must be accompanied with the goods

By the transporter of goods

E-way bill contains the details of transported goods besides the names of consignor and consignee of such goods. It is the evidence of genuineness of the transaction of supply of goods from one place to another.

E-way bill is required to be generated for consignment of goods of value exceeding INR 50,000/- Generating an e way bill for consignments valuing less than INR 50,000/- is optional whereas generation of e way bill for consignments of value exceeding INR 50,000/- is mandatory.

E-way bill is required to be carried by the transporter of goods in his conveyance and to show it for verification to the proper officer in case the conveyance is intercepted on the way, Section 68 of the GST Act, requires every transporter to carry with him such documents and devices as may be prescribed. E way bill has been prescribed as a document under Section 68 of GST Act.

E-way bill is required to be generated for any movement of goods, due to any of the following reasons:

in relation to supply

for reasons other than supply

for inward supply from an unregistered persons.

The E-way bill is required to be generated on the common portal before the commencement of the movement of goods.

Following persons have the obligation towards issuance of E-way bills:

1. Registered person as consignor or consignee of goods in his own or hired conveyance.
2. Registered person - for movement of goods to him caused by unregistered person
3. Transporter of goods - in the case of non generation by registered person.
4. Unregistered person - movement of goods in his own or hired conveyance
5. Transporter of unregistered person - in case unregistered person has not generated.

The person-in-charge of a conveyance carrying the taxable goods is required to carry with him the following documents.

1. Copy of the tax invoice, bill of supply or a delivery challan
2. Copy of the E-way bill generated on common portal or mapped to a RFID embedded on the conveyance.

The GSTN provides this facility to taxpayers for E-way bills as it makes the information of invoices available to tax payers, the information of which has already been entered on the common portal for generation of e way bill. The registered person for furnishing details of such invoice can take the help of information so provided by GST system to furnish GSTR-1 return.

The GST system shall provide such information to unregistered persons also in case their e mail id and mobile numbers are registered on GST system.

The provisions have been made in the rules for cancellation of E-way bill once generated. Within 24 hours of generation of E-way bill, it can be cancelled on common portal provided it has not been verified in transit during this period.

As per Rule 138 (10), E-way bills generated on common portal of GST have a validity period. On expiry of such period, it does not remain valid and consequences of non generation of e way bill will follow. The validity period of e way bill depends on the total distance to be covered in transportation of goods and such period will start from the time of generation of e way bill on common portal. It has been prescribed in the rules as follows:

In the following cases, E-way bill is not required to be generated:

1. Transportation of goods as specified in annexure provided in rule 138(14) of GST Rules, 2017.
2. Transportation of goods in a non-motorised conveyance.
3. Transportation of goods from port, air port, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by customs and
4. Movement of goods within such area as is notified in the concerned state. It be noted that movement of goods within 10 km in the same state from the place of consignor to place of transporter does not require issuance of e way bill.

Need for Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID)

The Commissioner may by way of notification require a class of transporters to obtain a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) embedded on their conveyance and map the e way bill to said RFID before start of movement of goods.

RFID is known as Radio frequency Identification Device. The data mapped on RFID can be read through RFID readers. Under the GST rules, the commissioner shall get RFID readers installed at various places, where verification of movement of goods is required to be carried out. In cases e way bills have been mapped to RFID, the verification will be carried out through these readers instead of vehicles stopping at those points for verification. This will help the trade to save time in transportation of goods.

A proper officer can intercept any conveyance at any place to verify documents and inspect goods.

If specific information regarding tax evasion is available to the Department, the Commissioner may authorize physical.

If during inspection, it is found that goods are being moved in contravention of the Act (e.g.no e-way bill, invalid documents), the officer can detain or seize the goods and conveyance.

Verification by officials

The tax officials authorised for verification are required to record online a summary report of every inspection carried out by them within 24 hours of carrying out such inspections and the final report has to be uploaded within 3 days of inspections carried out by them.

The transport vehicle once verified in any state and verification has been done, no further physical verification of the conveyance will be carried out anywhere in the state unless there is a specific input available of evasion of tax.

The tax officials have the authority to intercept the conveyance carrying the goods to verify the E-way bill of the consignments. However the physical verification of the conveyance can be carried out only after seeking a specific approval from commissioner of any other officer authorised by him.

However, in case there are specific inputs of evasion of tax, physical verification of specific conveyance can also be carried out after obtaining approval from commissioner or any other officer empowered by him.

It may be noted that if a physical verification has been carried out by a proper officer at any place, and no discrepancies are found, the same vehicle cannot be subjected to another inspection, unless specific information of tax evasion is subsequently received. However, for imposing any penalty, a notice must be issued within seven days of detention or seizure and an order for levy of penalty shall be issued within seven days of the issuance of notice.

Minor mistakes to be ignored

CBIC has clarified vide Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST dated 14.09.2018 that confiscation should not be done where the document contains minor typographical mistakes which may be in the following form:

1. spelling mistakes in the name of the consignor or the consignee but the GSTIN, wherever applicable, is correct;
2. error in the pin-code but the address of the consignor and the consignee mentioned is correct, subject to the condition that the error in the PIN code should not have the effect of increasing the validity period of the E-way bill;
3. error in the address of the consignee to the extent that the locality and other details of the consignee are correct;
4. error in one or two digits of the document number mentioned in the E-way bill;
5. error in 4 or 6 digits level of HSN where the first 2 digits of HSN are correct and the rate of tax mentioned is correct; and
6. error in one or two digits/characters of the vehicle number.

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