The 24th meeting of the GST Council held today through a video conference. It discussed about the implementation of e-way Bill system in the country. Till such time as National e-way Bill is ready, the States were authorized to continue their own separate e-way Bill systems. However, it was represented by the trade and transporters that this is causing undue hardship in inter-State movement of goods and therefore, bringing in an early all India system of e-way Bill has become a necessity. The GST Council reviewed the progress of readiness of hardware and software required for the introduction of nationwide e-way Bill system. After discussions with all the states, the following decisions are taken :-

i) The nationwide e-way Bill system will be ready to be rolled out on a trial basis latest by 16th January, 2018. Trade and transporters can start using this system on a voluntary basis from 16th January, 2018.

ii) The rules for implementation of nationwide e-way Bill system for inter-State movement of goods on a compulsory basis will be notified with effect from 1 st February, 2018. This will bring uniformity across the States for seamless inter-State movement of goods.

iii) While the system for both inter-State and intra-State e-way Bill generation will be ready by 16th January, 2018, the States may choose their own timings for implementation of e-way Bill for intra-State movement of goods on any date before 1 st June, 2018. There are certain States which are already having system of e-way Bill for intra-State as well as inter-State movement and some of those States can be early adopters of national e-way Bill system for intra-State movement also. But in any case uniform system of e-way Bill for inter-State as well as intraState movement will be implemented across the country by 1 st June, 2018.