Daily e-way bill generation for goods transportation under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system came in at 21.14 lakh for the week ended October 17, 12.6% lower than the daily average for the previous week, reflecting a reduction in dispatches due to Dussehra holidays.
However, the daily average for the first 17 days of October at 21.74 lakh was still 2.4% higher than the same for the first 19 days of September.
“Dispatches were more for the week ended October 10 keeping in mind the Dussehra holidays in the week ended October 17. With dispatches set to pick up now ahead of Diwali on November 4, I expect October e-way bill generation will be the highest monthly generation in 2021,” All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) joint secretary Abhishek Gupta told FE.
Daily e-way bill generation was at 24.2 lakh for the week ended October 10, 17.65% higher than the daily average for the week ended September 12. Between October 1 and 17, as many as 3.7 crore e-way bills were generated.
Thanks to the easing of lockdowns, e-way bill generation by businesses rose to 6.79 crore in September from 6.59 crore in August and from 6.42 crore in July. It was 7.12 crore for March, before the second wave of Covid-19 hit economic activities.
Higher e-way bills generation is reflected in higher GST revenues. GST collections came in at `1.17 lakh crore in September (largely August transactions), up 23% on-year and 4.5% on-month, signalling a sustained pick-up in trade and commerce.