The inter-state e-way bill was successfully launched across India on the 1st of April, 2018. At the same time, it was decided that the intra-state e-way bill will be launched starting from 15th of April, 2018, once the systems stabilize. In order to ensure a seamless implementation, the states were divided into batches, and every week, about 4 to 5 states came on board the e-way bill system.
Looking at intra-state e-way bill, UP was one of the first states to adapt the sameon the 15th of April, 2018, along with Kerala, Telengana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and also Karnataka which had gone live from 1st April itself.
Needless to stay, business across UP are now expected to start using the e-way bill Uttar Pradesh portal. More importantly, they need to be aware about the various e-way bill provisions, in order to generate e-way bills in Uttar Pradesh, and transition smoothly into the e-way bill era without any hassle.
E-way Bill Uttar Pradesh - Pre-GST Era
Prior to GST i.e. in the VAT era, a waybill system called as "e-Sancharan" was in existence in Uttar Pradesh for tracking the movement of goods into the State from outside the State. Under the Uttar Pradesh VAT laws, Form 38 was the declaration or certificate that had to be submitted by the VAT registered dealer to the jurisdictional VAT officer. The duplicate copy of the same and a trip sheet had to be carried by the person in charge of the conveyance, while entering Uttar Pradesh from any place outside the State. Similarly, Form 39 was the declaration or certificate that had to be obtained by the unregistered purchaser in Uttar Pradesh from the Assistant Commissioner, post which the signed form had to be sent to the seller in both original and duplicate. Doing this would then enable the person in charge of the conveyance to enter Uttar Pradesh from any place outside the State or vice-versa. However, in case of sale of goods within the state, no form had been prescribed by the Uttar Pradesh commercial tax department.
E-way Bill Uttar Pradesh - Transition Period
Till such time that GST was launched, and eventually the e-way bill system was made live, a reformed e-Sancharan system was in existence. Under the same, the Uttar Pradesh commercial tax department had prescribed one or more of the following documents or certificates:
- Transit Declaration Form (TDF)– for goods of other states that pass through Uttar Pradesh while in transit
- EWB-01 (Import Declaration Form)– for heavy vehicles transporting goods from other states into Uttar Pradesh for delivery
- EWB-02 (Transport Memo)– for movement of goods from Uttar Pradesh to any other state or for movement of goods within the state between 2 cities in Uttar Pradesh
- EWB-03 (Declaration Form)- for movement of goods by e-commerce operators within Uttar Pradesh
The transit module begins with the one-time registration of the vehicle, followed by user login, TDF generation, setting the transit vehicle and adding transporter. The portal is also equipped with functionalities such as changing the password, changing the vehicle owner etc. if there is a change in the vehicle for the movement of goods, then the user needs to register the new vehicle on the portal before re-assigning the same to the existing transit declaration form.
Every heavy vehicle, passing through Uttar Pradesh, is required to generate the transit form in TDF-1, while entering Uttar Pradesh. For the same, the user will need to provide information, relevant to goods, departure place, destination etc. while entering the Uttar Pradesh boundaries. Once all the relevant data is filed, the user needs to take a print of the generated sheet, and carry it while travelling in Uttar Pradesh. The same needs to be carried by the transporter as well, for verification at any point in time.
Similarly, one needs to generate TDF-2, while leaving Uttar Pradesh. TDF-2 will need to be generated within 24 hours of the vehicle exiting Uttar Pradesh. As per the Uttar Pradesh commercial tax department, the TDF generated remains valid for a period of four days from the date of generation.
E-way Bill Uttar Pradesh – Current Scenario
E-way Bill Registration - Uttar Pradesh
Any GST registered user who wants to gain access to the e-way bill facility, needs to register themselves on the e-way bill UP portal, filing the details which are asked for on the application window. If the user is unregistered under GST but have a TIN number, he can still register on the same portal using a different application window. Similarly, the user needs to use a separate window, in case the goods being dealt with are non-GST goods.
E-way Bill Generation - Uttar Pradesh
Currently the commercial tax department of Uttar Pradesh supports online generation and management of e-way bills at the e-way bill UP portal. Businesses in Uttar Pradesh who send goods outside the state have to register themselves on a one-time basis at the e-way bill Uttar Pradesh portal and start generating e-way bills from 1st April, 2018, whereas for intra-state movement of goods the date declared was 15th April, 2018. Thus, it is essential, that businesses in UP are clear about how to generate e-way bills in Uttar Pradesh, in order to carry forward their business in a compliant manner.
