Eway Bill Amendment in Section 138 (10)

“The New Amendment in Section 138 (10) of the CGST halves the time period that is allowed for delivery of material. This is not as per ground realities and does not take into consideration the circumstantial reasons of delay and will open a pandora box leading to unforeseen conditions, disruptions and large number of non-compliances leading to disruption of smooth flow of supply chain,” the AIMTC said.

Transporters’ apex body AIMTC said it is against reduction of E-Way bill validity period from January 1, and said that the move will disrupt supply chain and create chaotic condition. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) is the umbrella body of transporters that represents about 95 lakh truckers and entities. Acute adversities are faced by this sector and “there is yet another impractical scenario created from the government vide amendment in rule vide notification no 94/2020-Central Tax dated 22-12-2020, wherein the E-Bill validity period is halved. The said amendment is ill-informed, and ill-conceived. It is bereft of any consideration of the ecosystem of the road transport sector and is notified without any consultation with the stakeholders,” the AIMTC said in a statement.

Provided that the Commissioner may, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, extend the validity period of an e-way bill for certain categories of goods as may be specified therein:

Provided further that where, under circumstances of an exceptional nature, including trans-shipment, the goods cannot be transported within the validity period of the e-way bill, the transporter may extend the validity period after updating the details in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01, if required.

Provided also that the validity of the e-way bill may be extended within eight hours from the time of its expiry.

Explanation 1.-For the purposes of this rule, the “relevant date” shall mean the date on which the e-way bill has been generated and the period of validity shall be counted from the time at which the e-way bill has been generated and each day shall be counted as the period expiring at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation of e-way bill. 

Explanation 2.- For the purposes of this rule, the expression “Over Dimensional Cargo” shall mean a cargo carried as a single indivisible unit and which exceeds the dimensional limits prescribed in rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, made under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988).

It said this amendment may result in disrupting the smooth flow of supply chain and create chaotic conditions by impacting even essential supplies including medicines and perishable items. Also different category of commercial vehicles can carry cargo ranging from 500 kg to 42,000 kg and have different speed and different operating conditions. Under the circumstances it said “validity of E-way Bill of one day for every 200 kilometer travelled is not practical… It takes transporters at least 4-5 days to collect goods from various agencies/suppliers and then carry it to the destined place” and cited various reasons like logistics challenges. It urged the government to do away with the amendment and restore the previous system of validity of bill for one day for every 100 km.

Important Links

Click for more details EWBRules pdf

CBIC Faq’s on Eway Bill

Source – Business Standard