Govt extends validity of e-way bill till April-end

With trucks stuck at national highways due to the lockdown, the government has extended till April 30 the validity of e-way bills, required for inter-state movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000, whose expiry date fell between March 20 and April 15.

In a notification, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBIC) said "where an e-way bill has been generated...and its period of validity expires during the period March 20, 2020, to April 15, 2020, the validity period of such e-way bill shall be deemed to have been extended till the April 30, 2020".

In the electronic way (E-way) bill system businesses and transporters have to produce before a Goods and Services Tax (GST) inspector e-way bill for moving goods worth over Rs 50,000 from one state to another.

Currently e-way bills have a validity of 1 day for every 100 km. For over dimensional cargo (ODC), like trucks, the validity is 1 day for every 20 km.

The government had announced a country-wide 21-day lockdown beginning March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

AMRG & Associates Senior Partner Rajat Mohan said government has given much needed relief to taxpayers by extending the validity of e-way bill for movement of goods where validity was expiring during the lockdown period.

"It is now expected that no state authority would charge the transporter or owner of goods where movement of goods is being affected on the basis of an expired e-way bill," Mohan added.

EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said with "most e-way bills for stranded vehicles having expired, businesses were apprehensive on possible interception of these vehicles".