India’s GST collection for the month of October surpassed the Rs 1.5 lakh crore mark for the second time since the tax was introduced. Apart from high sales during the festive season, the rise in tax revenue on everything from groceries to transport, could also be attributed to factors such as inflation. The GST regime also covers e-way bills for transport of goods, which went down during the October, even as the tax inflow was high.
Less goods being supplied?
This indicates that the number of goods being moved around in India declined, while the factory output of India went up as the purchase managers’ index was up from 55.1 to 55.3. Although e-way bills went down from 8.4 crore in September to 7.68 crore in October, they still maintained a steady pace. These e-way bills are an indicator of the balance between consumption and supply in the country, and showed a healthy growth in shipments from May to September, staying above seven crore since March.
Meant to ensure compliance
E-way bills are generated on an online portal under GST rules, whenever goods worth more than Rs 50,000 crore are to be transported within a state or between states. The physical copy of these e-receipts are to be carried by the transporter, and the mechanism is meant to ensure compliance and curb tax evasion. Specifications and description of the shipment must be mentioned in e-way bills for quicker verification and taxation.
Do you need to worry?
The drop in e-way bills during the month of October may not be a cause for concern, since it could’ve been triggered by a higher number of holidays during the festive season. Although PMI was up, it is based on a survey of purchase managers, while e-way bills are based on actual data from online portals.
