Preventing GST Evasion, Enabling Faster Goods Movement: E-Way Bills To Soon Be Linked With FASTag And LDB

In order to prevent GST (Goods and Services Tax) evasion and facilitate faster movement of goods across national highways, the Department of Revenue is working on integrating e-way bill with FASTags and the Logistics Data Bank (LDB), as reported by The Hindu Business Line. The Department of Revenue works under the Union Ministry of Finance.

“The integration of the e-way bill system with FASTag and LDB is expected to help boost tax collections by clamping down on trade that currently happens on cash basis,” an official with the department said.

FASTag is a simple RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) device that is attached to motor vehicles. It allows for the automatic deduction of toll charges from a prepaid account. It has been made mandatory for all new four-wheelers since December 2017 by the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India).

On the other hand, LDB rolled out by the state-run DMICDC Logistics Data Services Ltd, used RFID technology to provide container (exports and imports) tracking services in India by integrating multiple information nodes across various agencies.

E-Way bill framework was rolled in April 2018 under the GST regime in certain states. E-way bills have to be compulsorily created and registered online for movement of goods within and outside a state, where the consignment value exceeds Rs. 50,000.

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