Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST
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CBEC/20/16/03/2017-GST
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
GST Policy Wing
***
New Delhi, Dated the 14th September, 2018
To,
The Principal Chief Commissioners / Chief Commissioners / Principal Commissioners /
Commissioners of Central Tax (All) / The Principal Directors General / Directors General (All)
Madam/Sir,
Subject: Modification of the procedure for interception of conveyances for inspection of
goods in movement, and detention, release and confiscation of such goods and conveyances,
as clarified in Circular Nos. 41/15/2018-GST dated 13.04.2018 and 49/23/2018-GST dated
21.06.2018 - regarding
Kind attention is invited to Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST dated 13th April, 2018 as
amended by Circular No. 49/23/2018-GST dated 21st June, 2018 vide which the procedure for
interception of conveyances for inspection of goods in movement, and detention, release and
confiscation of such goods and conveyances was specified.
2.
Various representations have been received regarding imposition of penalty in case of
minor discrepancies in the details mentioned in the e-way bill although there are no major lapses
in the invoices accompanying the goods in movement. The matter has been examined. In order to
clarify this issue and to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions of the law
across the field formations, the Board, in exercise of its powers conferred under section 168 of
the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CGST Act’)
hereby clarifies the said issue hereunder.
3.
Section 68 of the CGST Act read with rule 138A of the Central Goods and Services Tax
Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CGST Rules’) requires that the person in charge of a
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conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding Rs 50,000/- should carry a
copy of documents viz., invoice/bill of supply/delivery challan/bill of entry and a valid e-way bill
in physical or electronic form for verification. In case such person does not carry the mentioned
documents, there is no doubt that a contravention of the provisions of the law takes place and the
provisions of section 129 and section 130 of the CGST Act are invocable. Further, it may be
noted that the non-furnishing of information in Part B of FORM GST EWB-01 amounts to the
e-way bill becoming not a valid document for the movement of goods by road as per Explanation
(2) to rule 138(3) of the CGST Rules, except in the case where the goods are transported for a
distance of upto fifty kilometres within the State or Union territory to or from the place of
business of the transporter to the place of business of the consignor or the consignee, as the case
may be.
4.
Whereas, section 129 of the CGST Act provides for detention and seizure of goods and
conveyances and their release on the payment of requisite tax and penalty in cases where such
goods are transported in contravention of the provisions of the CGST Act or the rules made
thereunder. It has been informed that proceedings under section 129 of the CGST Act are being
initiated for every mistake in the documents mentioned in para 3 above. It is clarified that in case
a consignment of goods is accompanied by an invoice or any other specified document and not
an e-way bill, proceedings under section 129 of the CGST Act may be initiated.
5.
Further, in case a consignment of goods is accompanied with an invoice or any other
specified document and also an e-way bill, proceedings under section 129 of the CGST Act may
not be initiated, inter alia, in the following situations:
a) Spelling mistakes in the name of the consignor or the consignee but the GSTIN, wherever
applicable, is correct;
b) Error in the pin-code but the address of the consignor and the consignee mentioned is
correct, subject to the condition that the error in the PIN code should not have the effect
of increasing the validity period of the e-way bill;
c) Error in the address of the consignee to the extent that the locality and other details of the
consignee are correct;
d) Error in one or two digits of the document number mentioned in the e-way bill;
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e) Error in 4 or 6 digit level of HSN where the first 2 digits of HSN are correct and the rate
of tax mentioned is correct;
f) Error in one or two digits/characters of the vehicle number.
6.
In case of the above situations, penalty to the tune of Rs. 500/- each under section 125 of
the CGST Act and the respective State GST Act should be imposed (Rs.1000/- under the IGST
Act) in FORM GST DRC-07 for every consignment. A record of all such consignments where
proceedings under section 129 of the CGST Act have not been invoked in view of the situations
listed in paragraph 5 above shall be sent by the proper officer to his controlling officer on a
weekly basis.
7.
Difficulty, if any, in implementation of this Circular may please be brought to the notice
of the Board. Hindi version would follow.
(Upender Gupta)
Commissioner (GST)
