GST e-invoice system completed journey of 3 months; Enabled more than 37000 tax payers to generate more than 1680 Lakh Invoice Reference Numbers (IRNs)

603 Lakhs e-invoices generated in December 2020 as compared to 589 lakhs in November 2020

GST e-invoice system, the game changer in the GST system, has completed journey of three months and has facilitated smooth transition of the tax payers to the new platform.  It has enabled more than 37000 tax payers to generate more than 1680 Lakh Invoice Reference Numbers (IRNs), during last three months from the NIC developed e-Invoice system.

Starting with with 495 lakhs during October 2020, generation of e-Invoice has increased to 589 lakhs in November 2020 and 603 Lakhs in December 2020.  Interestingly the e-way bill generation from the NIC (National Informatics Centre) developed e-way bill system is also highest during September to December 2020 compared to same months of previous years.

 

The response of the system is good and generation of IRNs is hassle-free during this period.  However, there have been common errors such as repeated requests on same document number, simultaneous requests on same document number, requests with validation or calculation errors etc. Proactive measures taken by NIC Help desk, including communication with tax payers about the issues through mails and telephonic calls and suggestion of corrective measures, has facilitated in bringing the errors down. NIC has also started sending the daily update to the generators of IRN about the number and value of the IRN generated by him/her.

The Government has reduced the aggregate turnover cut off to ₹ 100 Crores per annum for generation of IRN by the tax payers from 1st  January 2021. NIC has already enabled the API and offline tool based sites for these tax payers. NIC is also geared up with adequate infrastructure to handle the generation of e-invoices from these tax payers from 1st  January 2021. NIC portal facilitates the big tax payers, whose turnover is more than ₹ 500 Crores, to enable direct API access to their suppliers and clients from their systems.

Keeping requirements of small tax payers in view, NIC has developed the offline Excel based IRN preparation and printing tool, called as NIC-GePP tool for the small tax payers. This application will allow the tax payers to enter the invoice details, prepare the file to upload on NIC IRN portal, download the IRN with QR code and print the e-invoice with QR code.

E-invoicing compliance expanded as system enables broader IRN generation while reducing validation errors through toolkits and API access. The NIC e invoice system completed a three month rollout enabling large numbers of taxpayers to generate Invoice Reference Numbers, showing month on month growth in e invoice and e way bill volumes. NIC enabled direct API access for big taxpayers, introduced daily reporting to IRN generators, and addressed common validation and duplication errors through helpdesk interventions. The Government reduced the aggregate turnover cutoff for mandatory IRN generation from 1 January 2021 and NIC deployed API and offline Excel based tools (NIC GePP) and infrastructure to support the expanded taxpayer base.