Absence of e-way system under GST will not impede movt of goods: official

After the goods and services tax (GST) roll out, movement of goods will not be impeded even if the e-way system is not placed, a senior finance ministry official said Monday.

The all powerful GST Council cleared six draft rules on Sunday but left the e-way bill for more consensus between states.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there were two opinions on the e-way bill so the Council decided to have more deliberations. The GST Council is meeting again on June 30 but it is too early to say whether a consensus can be reached in such a short period in the wake of wide differences between states.

“I must candidly state that there was no consensus on the e-way bill. Till we reach a consensus, the Council has authorised the existing systems of states to continue,” Jaitley said after the meeting.

Under the GST regime, e-permit is required for moving goods over Rs 50,000 within a state or between states. E-way bill envisaged to do away with border check posts which hinder the movement of goods.

However, the transition to seamless movement of goods does not appear to be a reality in the GST regime anytime soon in absence of e-way bill clearance, analysts said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka already the has e-way system called e-sugham and Uttar Pradesh has e-suvidha but other states are yet to move to the new system. Maharashtra does not have the concept of the e-way bill.