Budget 2018: The fifth budget under the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is set to be presented in the Parliament on Thursday. The budget will also see the Finance ministry implement the e-way Bill, which will come into effect from April 1. The implementation of the e-way Bill has a dual purpose: to curb tax evasion and have seamless movement of goods across states. An electronic data receipt generated during transactions between buyers and sellers, the e-way bill will eradicate certain practices like physical checking by state officials.
“The announcement of the E-Way Bill to be implemented from February 1, 2018, has left several players in the logistics industry in a fix. The move onto the E-Way Bill is set to grow the organized segment of the long-distance logistics industry, and in turn, contribute towards the rapid growth of the Indian economy (the organized section) as a whole,” said Anjani Mandal, the co-founder, and CEO of Fortigo.
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Negating opinions which he claimed “steer towards hurdles that the bill could create”, Anjani said it will actually result in the opposite. “For the organized players, the benefit would be the further reduction in delivery time with long-distance transportation along with the rooting out of service providers who transport goods without paying the due taxes. This is set to put the logistics industry on a path to progress. Players in the industry must understand the importance of this Bill and positively work towards its implementation.”
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The e-way bill has certain caveats too. As of now, the mandatory compliance of e-way bill is not for goods like fruits, vegetables, fish, and water. The government is hopeful that this will help to stop tax evasion. After the latest GST Council meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that there was a need to check tax evasion and the e-way bill could play a big role in realising this.