Regulatory updates - India

The proposed changes concerned:

• Introducing and making 'Ship-to GSTIN' field mandatory in Bill-to/Ship-to and Combination transactions when generating an EWB.
• Allowing usage of “URP” value in the Ship-to GSTIN field, if the delivery is done to an unregistered entity, e.g., customer or warehouse.
• Introducing an optional EWB closure facility in the portal, aiming to allow suppliers, recipients, transporters and authorized entities to mark an EWB as closed following delivery of goods.

Until further notice, taxpayers and service providers should not implement the previously proposed changes. No production environment updates are required, and all previously published advisories and FAQs will be removed from the GST Portal.

Until further notice, taxpayers and service providers should not implement the previously proposed changes. No production environment updates are required, and all previously published advisories and FAQs will be removed from the GST Portal.

The main changes are as follows:

• Introducing and making 'Ship-to GSTIN' mandatory in Bill-to/Ship-to and Combination transactions when generating an EWB. The portal will not accept EWB if that field is missing in these scenarios.
• Allowing usage of “URP” value in the Ship-to GSTIN field, if the delivery is done to an unregistered entity e.g. customer or warehouse.
• Introducing an optional EWB closure facility, aiming to allow suppliers, recipients, transporters and authorized entities to mark an EWB as closed following delivery of goods.

Detailed applicability for various flows

1. Generating IRN and e-way bill together: When the EWB is generated along with the IRN number, the Gstin field should be made conditionally mandatory wherever Ship-to details are provided. In addition, where the e-invoice schema includes Ship-to Legal Name and Ship-to Address, and EWB generation is required, Ship-to GSTIN must be provided.
2. Generating e-way bill using IRN: In the API used to generate EWB by using IRN, a new mandatory field “Gstin” has been added under “ExpShipDtls”, and an optional field “Ship to Trade Name” for the Trade Name has been made available.
3. In Bill-to/Ship-to transactions: If a GSTIN is entered in the Ship-to GSTIN field, the system will validate it and accept it only when it’s correct. Moreover, the GSTIN entered in the Ship-to GSTIN field cannot match the GSTIN entered in the Bill-to field, since distinct persons must be involved in such transactions.
4. Using “URP”: If the Ship-to GSTIN is unavailable, e.g., if the Ship-to party is unregistered or GSTIN does not apply to the transaction scenario, the value “URP” can be entered instead.
5. Export e-waybill transactions: For export EWB, ship details, including the GSTIN entered during IRN generation, can be replaced when creating the EWB using IRN. In export cases where no domestic registered Ship-to GSTIN applies, “URP” can be entered in the Ship-to GSTIN field.
6. B2B and SEZ Transactions: For B2B and SEZ transactions, the Ship details entered during IRN generation cannot be replaced when creating the EWB using IRN. If GSTIN was not provided during IRN generation, it can be added while generating the EWB by IRN, subject to the applicable validations. For older IRNs generated with the same GSTIN as Bill-To and Ship-To, the EWB by IRN API will generate a regular EWB.

New voluntary facility provided for closing e-way bills

• It is intended to allow EWB closure after the delivery of goods has been completed.
• The closure can be completed by the supplier, recipient, or transporter involved in the transaction, as well as by the driver or authorized person when a mobile number has been provided for closure. The portal will support EWB closure.

Introduced Error Codes in the Sandbox environment are as follows:

1. Generating IRN and e-way bill together

• Error Code 5002: Ship-to GSTIN is mandatory if Ship details are provided
• Error Code 2323: Bill-to GSTIN and Ship-to GSTIN should not be the same where Ship details are provided
• Error Code 2325: Ship-to State Code should match GSTIN State Code
• Error Code 3039: Ship-to PIN Code should belong to Ship-to State

2. Generating e-way bill by using IRN

• Error Code 5001: GSTIN field in ExpShipDtls is mandatory
• Error Code 2324: For B2B and SEZ transactions, Ship details provided during IRN generation cannot be replaced
• Error Code 4074: Ship-to State Code should match with GSTIN State Code
• Error Code 3039: Ship-to PIN Code should belong to Ship-to State Code

The API changes:

Two new mandatory fields in the EWB generation API schema have been introduced, affecting Bill-To/Ship-To Transactions

Rules:

• ship_to_gstin is mandatory in Bill-To/Ship-To transactions and in the combination of both scenarios
• For unregistered entities, the value "URP" must be entered in the ship_to_gstin field
• ship_to_tradename is a new field and must be included in the schema.

Updates to the e-Invoice API, EWB by IRN API, and EWB Closure API are now available in the Sandbox environment. The Official Advisory is available here and FAQs are available here and here.