Generation of E-Way Bill (EWB) To Be Halted From August 15: Check Report

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the service of blocking E-way bill (EWB) generation has been temporarily halted. However, under Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the CGST Rules, 2017, an individual's E Way Bill generation service may be curtailed if they fail to submit their return in Form GSTR-3B / declaration in CMP-08 for two months/quarters or more. From the 15th of August onwards, the government has moved to commence restricting the EWB generation service on the EWB website for all taxpayers in accordance with Rule 138 E (a) and (b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017.

After August 15, 2021, the platform will track the status of returns submitted in Form GSTR-3B or declarations filed in Form GST CMP-08, and curtail the generation of EWB if two or more returns in Form GSTR-3B for the months up to June 2021, or two or more statements in Form GST CMP-08 for the quarters up to April to June 2021, have not been submitted or filed. To make use of the EWB generation service, you must submit your pending GSTR 3B returns/ CMP-08 Statement as soon as possible.

If you submit your GSTR-3B Return / Statement in FORM CMP-08 and the failure in submission is minimized to less than two taxation periods, your E-Way Bill generation facility will be instantly unlocked on the EWB portal. You can also submit an online application to your regional tax official for the disabling of the E-Way Bill generation facility, using Form GST EWB 05. The unblocking of an E-Way Bill generation service is effective for the time period specified in the Tax Official's directive.

If the taxpayer is not on the defaulter listing, then he or she will continue to be allowed in the E-way bill system for the generation of EWB after the validity term has expired. If the taxpayer is still on the defaulter listing after the validity period has expired, the taxpayer will be permanently blocked from using the E-way bill platform. This will occur if the taxpayer has kept failing to submit Form GSTR-3B return / Statement in FORM CMP-08 for the previous two or more tax periods after the validity window has expired.

Recently Ministry of Finance said via its recent Tweet that "A total of 194 crore e-waybills have been generated since the launch of the system, of which about 40% are for the inter-state transport of goods."