India introduced goods transport e-way bills in April 2018 as part of the implementation of its Goods & Services Tax on 1 July 2017. The requires a digital filing notification of the movement of any goods above Rs. 50000 (approx €570 or $670). E-way bills are digitally registered notifications with the government to enable automated checking that goods sales are correctly reported for GST.
India is phasing in electronic invoice reporting between 2020 and 2021.
Eligible goods should not start their transport prior to the e-way bill being submitted onto the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN). This is the same portal interface used for GST compliance.
There are two parts to an e-way report:
- Part A: recipient; place of delivery; invoice number; date; value of goods; HSN code; goods receipt number; reasons for the tranport
- Part B: transport details including vehicle number. This generates the e-way bill.
The responsibility for raising the e-way bill lies with whomever is responsible for the transport. If the seller or buyer is responsible for own or hired transport or by rail/air, then they should raise it. If a third-party transport firm is used for road, then they should raise it.
