Bengal keeps e-way bill orders in abeyance, intrastate limit at Rs 1 lakh

The West Bengal government has kept in abeyance the order that reduced the "intrastate e-way bill" threshold limit from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50,000, effective from December 1, a top official said on Thursday.

It was done "in the public interest" after representations from stakeholders highlighting some issues related to e-waybills, state GST Commissioner Khalid Anwar said.

The mid-November notification that lowered the threshold has been "put in abeyance till further notice with retrospective effect," Anwar told PTI.

"Therefore, the limit for intra-state movement remains at Rs 1 lakh With the earlier notification being kept in abeyance, no e-waybill requirement will be there for job work within the state," he said.

The move to cut the intrastate e-way bill threshold from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50,000 was intended to align it with the national standard and prevent GST slippage.

The state government had also aimed to achieve parity with the rest of the country (where the threshold for interstate goods movement is Rs 50,000) and eliminate any ambiguity between inter-state and intra-state limits. Additionally, the previous notification aimed to curb tax evasion.

Sushil Poddar, head of the Confederation of West Bengal Dealers Association, earlier said that the Rs 50,000 limit placed an unnecessary compliance burden on small and marginal traders.