Make e-way bill must for intra-state transportation of gold, suggests GoM

States can make e-way bill mandatory for transportation of gold within the respective states but implementing it for inter-state movement across India will not be feasible, a state-ministerial panel suggested on Friday.

The group of ministers (GoM), comprising finance ministers of Kerala, Bihar, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka and West Bengal, set up to examine the feasibility of implementation of e-way bill for movement of gold and precious stones met via video conferencing.

"It was decided that if any state wants to implement e-way bill for gold, they can do so for intra- or within the state transportation," Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi told PTI.

During the meeting, while Kerala and Karnataka wanted e-way bill for inter-state movement of goods, Gujarat and Bihar felt it was not practical and feasible.

Modi, who also holds Bihar's finance portfolio, also suggested e-invoicing for gold. "It was decided to further study starting e-invoice for gold to tackle evasion and the proposal would be discussed further," Modi said.

The GoM, set up by the GST Council in November 2019, was also tasked to suggest alternative ways and mechanism to control tax evasion on gold.

The final report of the GoM would be placed before the Council.

Under the goods and services tax regime, e-way bills are required for inter-state transportation of goods valued over Rs 50,000. However, gold is exempted.

In the electronic way (e-way) bill system, businesses and transporters have to produce before a GST inspector the e-way bill, if asked.

Currently, e-way bills have a validity of one day for every 100 km. For over-dimensional cargo, like trucks, the validity is one day for every 20 km.