Design architecture for B2C e-invoicing for retailers ready: GSTN CEO

The design architecture for implementing GST e-invoicing for retailers is mostly ready and being vetted by industry experts, GST Network CEO Manish Kumar Sinha said on Tuesday.

E-invoicing is already present in the B2B sector. The GST Council, in its meeting earlier this month, decided to extend e-invoice to the B2C sector on a pilot basis.

Sinha said the GST department is currently in discussion with the industry for the issuance of electronic invoices for every B2C transaction.

"Initially, we will do a pilot project. The design of the architecture is mostly done, and we are getting it vetted by some of the best people we have in the industry. After that, we will release a document on how to go about it," Sinha said at an Assocham event here.

The threshold for businesses that would be required to issue e-invoices is in the process of being decided.

"We have to give time to the industry, particularly, small mom-and-pop stores. What we want to get right is the technology. Large organised retail, e-commerce operator, big companies...have a good IT set up with them, ... at least encourage them to start adopting it," Sinha said.

Under Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, e-invoicing for business-to-business (B2B) transactions was made mandatory for companies with turnover of over Rs 500 crore from October 1, 2020. It was gradually extended to those with a turnover of over Rs 5 crore.