Ranchi: Jharkhand is re-launching the e-way bill, one of the stringent measures to curb evasion under Goods and Services Tax (GST) from Sunday, April 1.

For now, the facility will be for interstate goods transport only. As of now, intrastate transport - within Jharkhand - has been kept out of the ambit of the e-way bill.

The bill, a mandatory electronic permit for transportation of goods worth Rs 50,000 and above in case of both intra and interstate movements, was rolled out nationwide on February 1.

But immediately the next day, it had to be put on hold in Jharkhand and many states owing to massive glitches in the GST software and a slew of other practical difficulties.

On Saturday, state commercial tax department secretary K.K. Khandewal told this paper they were much better prepared now technologically.

"Since February, we worked in tandem with the trading community and other stakeholders through seminars, workshops, etc, to create awareness," he said.

But, he added that the e-way bill for intrastate movement of goods would be introduced later, once the impact of the interstate rollout is analysed.

"We will see how things pan out for some months. The decision (on intrastate e-way bill) will be taken by state government but in consultation with GST council of the Centre," he said.

Another official maintained that a toll free number-18003457020 set up during the time when GST was rolled out will continue to assist people besides commercial taxes department officials at zonal levels in different districts.

"Any trader or transporter registered or enrolled with GST portal will b able to generate e-way bill from Saturday midnight onwards. New users will be enrolled at centralised GST portal first to generate the same," added the official.

Asked, Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI), Ranjeet Garodia gave a diplomatic reply.

"Since it's a central law now, traders don't have option but to accept it," he said. "But, we demand the cap for goods sent intrastate to be increased to Rs 1 lakh and minimise our hassles of generating e-way bills again and again," he said. "It's a demand based on practical realities and we hope this is accepted after the e-way bill rollout," he said.

Asked if the trading community was better prepared for GST's e-way bill now, he added that more practical challenges might come to light once the e-way bill starts functioning. "Let's see how the system works," he said.

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