NEW DELHI: The government has said the re-introduction of the e-way bill system under GST has been “very successful” with no technical glitches.
The GST provision, requiring transporters to carry an electronic waybill or e-way bill when moving goods between states, was implemented from April 1 to check rampant tax evasion and boost revenues.
“E-way rollout has been very successful and so far there has been no glitches. Although they took two months to perfect… But at this rate I hope very soon we will be able to roll out intra-state,” Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said.
On the first day, 2.59 lakh e-way bills were generated and another 2.89 lakh were generated on second day, GST-Network Chairman Ajay Bhushan Pandey told reporters here.
When the e-way bill was first introduced in February 1, the systems had collapsed, following which its implementation was deferred. The GST Council last month decided on April 1 as the implementation date.
The system has capacity to take more load and there are technical teams working on this to ensure that the e-way bill works smoothly, said Adhia, who is also the Revenue Secretary.
Asked about reports which states that officials are not checking e-way bill from transporters, Adhia said, “People will take some time to adjust but over a period the authorities will start checking the trucks. They will have to because if people are not carrying e-way bill, then it’s not fair”.
Adhia said without e-way bill, there are chances of tax evasion and honest taxpayers feel they are at a disadvantage compared to those people who are evading the taxes.
“We hope others will fall in line and generate e-way bill to do this. If they don’t do it, there is a penalty provision for that,” he said.PTI
