Reconciliation of Extended E-waybills: Reporting and Documentation Requirements

The reconciliation process refers to verifying all your submitted information and documentation to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements. It helps the businesses maintain accuracy and consistency while submitting the extension request and also builds trust with the relevant tax authorities.

For varied states, it is mandatory to perform a reconciliation procedure for all the essential documents. You have to create a complete report with all the details given aligned with their supported documentation. Keep this report for a specified time duration as per your state rules and regulations.

In this guide, we’ve mentioned an essential factor regarding changing the e-waybill extension request. Let’s begin the guide!

1. Importance of reconciliation in extended E-waybill scenarios

1. Accurate and Consistent Data: The reconciliation process helps in ensuring that the information is recorded accurately and consistently throughout the e-waybill. In this process, you can identify any potential discrepancy, including accurate product description, quantity, or location. It can lead you to various errors and operational disruptions. Therefore, a reconciled e-waybill reflects the actual status of the transiting goods.

2. Trust and Collaboration: You can establish trust within your supply chain by implementing a reconciliation process. When all of your stakeholders genuinely believe in the accuracy of your e-waybill data, it strengthens your partnership and fosters a collaborative environment. This process plays the most important role during extended supply chain scenarios where you require teamwork.

3. Reduced GST Penalties: Discrepancies or missing documents during the e-waybill extension process can easily lead the owner or transporter (or whose fault it is) to bear heavy penalties or legal complications. The reconciliation process verifies and aligns all the information that leads you to not bear any penalties and fines. Therefore, it reduces the risk of any potential GST penalties or punishments.

4. Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: All countries have different compliance and regulatory requirements. Some have very strict ones. Reconciliation helps businesses to ensure that the e-waybill information is accurately aligned with the relevant regulatory requirements. This creates a legal and smooth transhipment process that keeps you away from any potent ones or penalties. It also helps the authorities to track and monitor the enforcement easily through accurate e-waybill data.

5. Cost Savings: The reconciliation process helps in maintaining accuracy in the invoices, bills, and tax calculations. This can easily lead you to save costs for any incorrect shipments, delayed deliveries, and non-compliance fines. Therefore, reconciliation is a mandatory requirement during e-waybill extension or any other process.

6. Timely Issue Resolving: When you properly reconcile your e-waybill data, it allows you to identify and resolve any issue that might occur during transportation or storage of goods. No matter if you cause delays in delivering goods or damage the goods, the reconciliation process lets stakeholders and other authorities get informed immediately. In this way, they can easily address the problem and make informed decisions accordingly. This helps solve problems on time, create fewer disruptions, and maintain the integrity of the supply chain.

2. Legal considerations for documenting and reporting reconciled E-waybills

1. Compliance with National and Regional Regulations: The national and regional regulations vary by country. It makes you take care of specified formats, data files, and timeline submissions. As a responsible business, you should be aware of the legal requirements and regulations and carefully apply them during the e-waybill extension process. It is one of the significant legal considerations for e-waybill extension.

2. Audit Trail and Documentation: You are required to maintain a comprehensive audit trail to showcase compliance with legal requirements. It includes documenting the reconciliation process, changes made to the e-waybill, and communicating any important information regarding the discrepancies. This is called a professionally documented process to serve for better audits and legal inquiries.

3. Cross-Border Considerations: While transiting goods at an international level, you’re required to consider the regulatory requirements of both countries. Cross-border e-waybill compliance also adheres to international conventions, bilateral agreements, and jurisdiction-specific regulations. Having a comprehensive lookout at legal considerations allows you to have a smooth transhipment.

4. Confidentiality and Data Protection: The e-waybill consists of all the information regarding the transhipment, including the nature of goods moving, parties involved, and other transaction details. During transhipment, you are required to consider data protection and confidentiality factors to keep the information safe and secure. Every business has to take this measure to safeguard the privacy and security of e-waybill details, as per applicable data protection laws.

5. Record Retention Requirements: In many jurisdictions, businesses are required to keep the retention of records, including e-waybills. These records should be maintained at least for a specified period of time. It is one of the major legal considerations for every business. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will have to face various penalties and fines. Legal teams make sure that the organization’s record-keeping practices must be aligned with the relevant regulations.

3. Compliance obligations for reconciliation of extended E-waybill data

1. Adherence to Regulations: You are required to be aware of updated changes or amendments made to the e-waybill rules and regulations, especially any reconciliation procedure and reporting requirement. The best way to be updated about the newly released compliance obligations regarding e-waybill extension is to consult with a tax professional or advisor. Adhering to the reconciliation regulations will allow smooth transhipment processes.

2. Audit and Verifications: The business systems and processes should effortlessly trace the data during the reconciliation process. It helps businesses easily retrieve data during audits. Make sure to perform regular internal audits during the procedure, as it can help you identify any potential gaps or inconsistencies. Moreover, the electronic reconciliation process should also take care of security breaches. You have to take the required measures to prevent any unauthorized access, manipulation, or loss.

3. Penalties for Non-compliance: Compliance obligations are mandatory; otherwise, you have to bear the penalties. Certain potential repercussions for non-compliance, including fines, sanctions, and other legal actions, can be taken against your business. Therefore, you should take proactive measures to avoid any possible violations.

4. Reporting Obligations: While applying for an e-waybill extension, you have to make specific changes related to the original electronic waybill. In fact, you are required to regularly report reconciled e-waybills and outline any potent discrepancy. If you find any potential flaw during reconciliation, you must report issues to the specified GST authorities within the stipulated time frame.

5. Notifications of Discrepancies: As per compliance obligations, every business is required to report potential discrepancies found during the reconciliation process to the relevant parties and regulatory authorities. It helps businesses to establish transparency and compliance with reporting requirements.

What is the validity of E-waybill under GST as per revised from 1st Jan 2021?

4. Documentation requirements for reconciled E-waybills are the following extension

1. Original and Reconciled E-waybill: For reconciliation, you must have the original e-waybill or a copy of it for reference. It should properly go through the reconciliation process. Every detail regarding the consignor, consignee, goods description, quantity, and vehicle number should be accurately and precisely mentioned during the extension process. Moreover, the reconciliation also helps in making sure that the data mentioned in the e-waybill properly aligns with the actual movement of goods.

2. Reason for Extension and Supporting Documents: You are required to properly document the reason for the e-waybill extension on the official GST portal. There are several predetermined reasons, and you have to choose one that matches your scenario. You will also be required to fill out other vital details like the original e-waybill number and extension duration, along with certain supporting documents.

3. Communication Records: As a reliable business, you have to correctly mention the records of communication regarding the discrepancies and resolutions involved in the movement of goods. For instance, it includes the notifications sent to / or received from regulatory authorities, parties involved in the supply chain, and other relevant entities. Also, make sure to keep records of steps taken to address them adequately.

4. Reconciliation Report: Every business is required to create an in-depth reconciliation report. You have to mention the identified discrepancies, rectified actions, or any other modification made to the e-waybill. This report can also be officially used for audit or inspection purposes. Ensure to check the accurate and precise details in the e-waybill properly during the extension process.

5. Training and Certification Records: Requiring personnel for e-waybill reconciliation process tasks such as data entry or verification will make you keep the records of training and certification. To maintain accurate records, your staff should be well-trained and aware of all the required compliances.

6. Cross-Border Documents (if required): If your business requires international trading, then you have to comply with the cross-border regulations additionally. It includes documentation requirements like customs declaration, certificates of origin, and any other important document specified by import and export of the country.

7. Audit Trail Documentation: Businesses are required to maintain a comprehensive audit trail documentation for the reconciliation process. In this document, you have to properly mention the steps of your reconciliation process and any changes made in it and record the communication with the relevant stakeholders. This documentation can even help to showcase compliance during regulatory audits.

Also Read: Essential Documents For The E-Way Bill: A Comprehensive Checklist

5. Reporting obligations for reconciled E-waybills and extension outcomes

1. Timely Submission of Reconciled E-waybills: Businesses are required to submit the reconciled e-waybills within a predetermined time frame set by regulatory authorities. The timely submission provides the assurance of up-to-date and accurate information regarding the transhipment to the relevant parties and regulatory authorities.

2. Documentation of Extension Requests: To extend your consignment’s e-waybill, you have to submit a formal request with comprehensive documents. Submitted documents must showcase the need for an extension. Moreover, you also have to outline a proposed timeline to achieve compliance and specify your corrective actions.

3. Periodic Reporting: In India, certain states like Maharashtra have implemented the requirement of periodic reporting of reconciled electronic waybills. It works as a summary of the reconciliation process, highlighting potent discrepancies and encountering their solutions. Therefore, you should consult with your local authorities whether periodic reporting is required or not.

4. Notify Discrepancies: If you find any potential discrepancy during the reconciliation process, you are obliged to notify the report to the relevant parties and regulatory authorities. In the respective notification, you have to mention details regarding discrepancies, their potential impact on moving goods, and corrective actions. It develops transparency in the system.

5. Successful and Unsuccessful Extension: When you appropriately deliver goods within the extended e-waybill period, you are required for any specific reporting. All you have to keep is the record of the final updated e-waybill consisting of the revised journey details. This will act as a record of completion.

6. Audit Preparedness: Reporting obligations also consist of maintaining the records and documents to showcase the readiness for audit. Simply put, you must have a well-documented process extension request, reconciliation, and compliance measures. All these documents should be readily available for any kind of inspection by relevant regulatory authorities.

7. Training and Awareness Reporting: If you’re providing training programs to improve your staff awareness regarding e-waybill compliances, there are certain reporting obligations related to training initiatives. It might include documenting staff number training, training content, or any other certification obtained.

6. Challenges in inaccurate reconciliation of extended E-waybills

1. Data Management: During e-waybill extension, you have to pass various documents through the reconciliation process. It includes documents like original e-waybills, extension requests, supporting documents, updated e-waybills, and more. Many businesses manually enter the data, which increases the risk of typos, discrepancies, and inconsistencies. Hence, managing data is one of the significant challenges for the reconciliation process of extended e-waybill.

2. Multi-Party Involvement: There are multiple parties involved in the e-waybill extension scenario, including suppliers, transporters, warehouses, and recipients. Coordinating and reconciling the information across several stakeholders is a challenging part. In fact, coping with every party comes up with diverse challenges because everyone uses different systems, processes, and data formats.

3. Identifying and resolving minor discrepancies like distance traveled or quantity of goods are some of the unavoidable issues. They can lead to problems like tax issues or fines. Many times, you might also have to face certain major discrepancies like changes in route or consignee, which can become time-consuming. You might even have to submit various documents and grant approval. It becomes a challenging task. Moreover, any possible delay in coordinating and aligning with stakeholders during transhipment can also lead you to various reconciliation difficulties and inaccuracies.

4. Real-Time Data Exchange: Reconciliation becomes highly effective when you can exchange real-time data with the stakeholders. To make it, you should have a really, very fast system. You will face challenges if your system lacks interoperability or if you find any potential delays in updating e-waybill information. It can significantly impact your ability to accurately reconcile the information.

5. Coping Up With Legal and Regulatory Issues: The e-waybill extension process has diverse rules and regulations. They are written in a standard format, which can cause various confusion. This non-clarity of rules and regulations can lead you to missed deadlines and non-compliance. Therefore, If you fail to create an accurate and precise reconciliation report, you might have to face legal penalties and consequences.

6. Changes During Transit: Changing conditions during the transparent process is very common in the transportation industry. It includes delays, route changes, or unexpected events occurring. These unexpected events can cause potential delays in the movement of goods and create certain issues in the e-waybill extension. You might find it challenging to reconcile these changes, as they are neither pre-planned nor communicated.

7. Security Concerns: E-waybill has various security concerns, especially during the extension period, as it involves multiple parties. If there is any security breach or unauthorized access, it can lead you to compromise the integrity of the e-waybill data. Therefore, it will also hinder the reconciliation process and make it difficult for you to handle the security concerns or breaches.

8. Resistance to Technological Changes: Businesses are generally worked over a long tenure of time. This has created a comfort zone for stakeholders and workers to accomplish their transhipment in a traditional format. Today’s demand is technological change, which is quite frequent. Therefore, adapting to these technological changes, even in the reconciliation process, would not be easy for the stakeholders. It will definitely be challenging for you to confront this resistance and understand the importance of newly advanced technology.

Also Read: Challenges And Solutions In Tracking And Managing E-Waybill Expiry

7. Exemption considerations for specific reconciliation scenarios

1. Exemptions for Minor Discrepancies: There are certain exemptions for minor discrepancies like distance variations and quantity fluctuations. For instance, if the actual distance mentioned in the extended e-waybill slightly varies because of any unforeseen reasons like traffic jams or detours, tax liabilities won’t be affected. However, you may need to report or rectify this small change. In fact, the minor changes within the quantity of goods delivered, with a predetermined tolerance limit, wouldn’t require the reconciliation procedure.

2. Emergency or Critical Situation: Authorities may surely grant the revonsilatione exemptions in emergency or critical situations. Especially when the movement of goods is required on an urgent basis, it includes scenarios such as public health emergencies or natural disasters. In simple words, you will get exemptions in situations where you are bound to deliver goods on time, and the reconciliation process can hinder timely delivery.

3. Exemptions for Majeure Events: If your transhipment is caught by any majeure events like floods, landslides, or storms and it disrupts the time of transiting goods mentioned within the extended e-waybill, you will get the potential exemptions from reconciliation formalities and fines. However, you would be required to submit documented proof of such incidents. You will get similar exemptions if your goods transhipment is hindered because of civil unrest or social disturbances and they are not in the control of stakeholders.

4. Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Status: Transportation businesses that have achieved any relevant status like Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) will be eligible for certain exemptions. These statuses are generally granted to the business with a comprehensive commitment to security and compliance. Therefore, reconciliation exemptions are granted based on the recognition of the trusted status of the business.

5. Exemptions for Specific Products Categories: Perishable goods like fruits, vegetables, or dairy products also get exemptions from tough reconciliation procedures due to their time sensitivity. You are only required to revert back with the temperature control records and delivery confirmations. You also get reconciliation exemptions for the movement of bulky items, including construction materials or machinery. They could have minimal weight or dimensional variations. Therefore, you will easily get the exemption generally across all the states until they significantly impact the tax liabilities.

6. Pilot Programs or Trials: When the business gives a trial to the latest technology, processes, or regulatory approaches, they are exempted from the reconciliation requirements. In this way, authorities can evaluate the effectiveness of alternative methods while also reducing the reconciliation burden on the shoulders of the respective participants.

Also Read: Frequently Asked Questions: Clearing Doubts on E-Waybill Exemptions

8. Best practices for efficient and accurate E-waybill reconciliation

1. Automated Systems Integration: You must apply the automated systems across your supply chain. It will help you seamlessly integrate your e-waybill data and reduce the chances of any manual errors. Therefore, stakeholders will have real-time tracking over the transhipment of goods.

2. Process Optimization: Properly distribute the roles and responsibilities of the reconciliation process to the respective parties. It will reduce the chances of any confusion or overlapping efforts. Try to practice the standardized operating procedures for reconciliation processes like dispute resolution mechanisms. Moreover, the training programs can also increase the efficiency of your business.

3. Technological Updation: It becomes very easy for businesses to manage transhipment by using high-end technologies. You can potentially invest in data analytics tools, cloud-based systems, and mobile apps. These tools will identify all the discrepancies, help you store and access data, and, in fact, bring the required data to your fingertips. In this way, you can quickly access the data during an official audit or inspection.

4. Conduct Regular Training Program: Arranging a regular training and awareness program for the personnel involved in the e-waybill generation and reconciliation processes will allow you to achieve efficient and error-free results. Give extra attention towards teaching your workforce the necessity of accurate data entry and reconciliation processes.

5. Compliance with Regulatory Updates: A business is required to be informed regarding the recent regulatory updates of e-waybill systems. Make sure to implement the essential changes into your systems and programs. Regularly reviewing and implementing required changes will ensure your business is aligned with the latest legal standards.

6. Clear Communication Channels: In your business supply chain, stakeholders and other involved parties should be connected with a clear communication channel. It will allow them to smoothly communicate regarding any changes, discrepancies, or issues related to e-waybill to lead towards a potential solution.

7. Compliance and Legal: Create a thorough documentation of the reconciliation process by including discrepancies, resolution methods, and supporting documented evidence. Make sure to implement the reconciliation requirements by keeping up with the latest e-waybill rules and regulations. For best practices, you can contact a tax consultant to keep away from any legal penalties and punishments.

8. Performance Metrics and KPIs: You have to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and performance metrics in your business to measure the efficiency and accuracy of your reconciliation process. Regularly monitoring these business metrics will allow you to identify the trends and areas of improvement. Therefore, your business expands as you make advancements in the process.

9. Real-time Monitoring: You should also implement real-time tracking tools for the moving goods against the information recorded during e-waybill generation and extension. It helps businesses to track any potent discrepancies in a timely manner and implement the corrective actions on time.

10. Customer and Supplier Collaboration: Make sure to connect closely with your customers and suppliers. It will allow you to properly align the e-waybill information to the expectations of other parties. Therefore, establishing clear communication between supplier and customer will help you reduce any future discrepancies and enhance accuracy.

9. Audit and verification of reconciliation processes for extended E-waybills

1. Documentation Review: During the audit and verification process, the relevant tax authorities check out the proper documentation related to the reconciliation process of e-waybills. It includes documents like audit trails, communication records, etc. Make sure to maintain comprehensive, well-maintained, and compliance documentations to avoid any issues.
2. Data Accuracy and Consistency Check: All your reconciled e-waybill data will be compared with the actual goods in transit, as it will help the authorities to have check over the accuracy of your provided information. They will also check for your data consistency within fields like product description, quantities, vehicle details, and other relevant information.

3. Audit of Extension Outcomes: If your business has got the approval for extending your e-waybill, you should surely be ready for a potential audit for your outcomes. Make sure that you have followed the predefined timeline, required compliances, and implemented the corrective actions outlined in the extension request. This simple practice will help you ensure the smooth audits by the tax department.

4. Documentation of Continuous Improvement Initiatives: Within your reconciliation report, you are required to assess the documentations regarding the continuous improvement initiatives. It will demonstrate to the relevant authorities that your business is proactive in identifying the areas for improvement, implementing corrective actions, and optimizing the reconciliation process.

5. Data Validation and Integrity Check: In the potential audits by tax officials, you must implement certain checks to verify the validation and integrity of the data within all the essential stages of your supply chain. Also make sure to implement some automated validation process to figure out any potential errors or inconsistencies within your e-waybill data. It helps them to not significantly impact the reconciliation reports.

6. Independent Third-Party Audits: You must be engaged with an independent third-party auditor and ask them to prepare an objective assessment of the reconciliation process. It will help you have an unbiased perspective and highlights the areas for improvement, which is generally overlooked internally. 

10. Legal consequences of errors or omissions in reconciling extended E-waybills

1. Penalties and Fines: The tax department might impose financial penalties for non-compliance with e-waybill regulations while creating reconciliation reports. Make sure not to make any errors or omissions within the reconciliation process that will lead you to violate the regulatory requirements. The fine amount will vary based on the severity of the errors.

2. Legal Disputes and Litigation: Proceeding with inaccurate e-waybill data might lead you to face legal disputes between different parties involved within the supply chain. It may include supplier, carrier, or customer. Bigger discrepancies might even lead you to contractual disputes, which may lead the parties for the litigation to seek damages or resolution.

3. Suspension or Revocation of Operating Licenses: For any business constantly violating the e-waybill rules and regulations, authorities have the full right to suspend or revoke their operating license. It may lead the business to face varied heavy repercussions and make it difficult for them to operate within a jurisdiction.

4. Increased Scrutiny and Other Regulatory Compliances: Consistent errors or omissions demonstrated within your e-waybill reconciliation report can possibly trigger tax authorities for increased scrutiny from regulatory authorities. Hence, businesses will have to face frequent audits, inspections, or investigations to make sure that they follow all the compliances.

5. Loss of Eligibility for Governmental Programs: If your businesses persistently fail to reconcile the electronic waybills accurately, you may not be eligible for governmental programs, incentives, or benefits. All these government-based rewards require the compliance of specific regulations. It will impact the overall competitiveness and financial stability of your business.

To Wrap Up !!

Maintaining the reconciliation report while extending the e-waybill will require you to go through checking various information and documentation. You have to maintain the accuracy for every detail submitted. We hope this article helps you create a detailed report considering all the required compliances.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• What do you mean by the reconciliation of e-waybill?

Electronic waybill reconciliation is a process of verifying the submitted information and documentation to rectify the potential mismatches, errors, and wrong entries made in the e-waybill system. It helps businesses to figure out any non-compliance to avoid any penalties imposed by the tax department.

• What are the benefits of reconciliation?

A reconciliation report helps businesses verify the details they provide and keep them aligned with the actual goods in transit. It can potentially stop a business from making compliance violations and fulfill all the regulatory requirements. Hence, everyone must have a reconciliation report sustained for a specified period of time to avoid bad repercussions during any audit or inspection.

• Can we extend the e-waybill after its expiry?

EWB validity can be extended only through the current transporter. However, if you haven’t assigned any transporter, you are free to generate the bill. The electronic waybill can be generated only within a stipulated time frame of 8 hours before and after the expiry. Make sure to follow the proposed timelines properly.

• Why is reconciliation important in E-waybill?

Reconciling the electronic waybill system helps businesses figure out any potential errors or omissions that can cause non-compliance with regulatory requirements. Hence, it allows you to avoid any audit or inspection and builds trust between your business and tax authorities.

• What is the latest notification for e-waybill 2023?

As per the latest notification released by the GST department on 20th Nov. 2023, taxpayers with an AATO (Average Annual Turnover) of Rs. 20 Crore are required to have an active two-factor authentication. Moreover, you also have to create sub-users to manage the e-waybill-related activities effectively.

• What are the details required for the e-waybill?

While generating an e-waybill, you are required to submit varied information. Listed below are the necessary components of the bill: 

• Standard pincode of the delivery location.
• Invoice or challan number associated with the supply of your goods.
• God’s HSN code.
• Recipient’s GSTIN (Who is receiving the goods).
• Monetary value of the consignment.

• In which case are you not required to have an e-waybill?

EWB is not essentially required for the movement of goods within 20 km from the location of the consignor or business. It means that you don’t need the bill for delivering goods within your state. Moreover, the monetary value of the consignment should exceed the limit of Rs. 50,000 to be required for the e-waybill.

• What is the time limit for e-invoicing reporting?

You must generate the e-invoices at least 30 days from the main date, as per a notified generation time. Earlier, the e-invoices’ time limit was set as seven days, but the government has deferred the implementation by three months. However, the new law is currently applicable only to certain taxpayers.

• What are the common errors found within an e-waybill?

While generating the e-waybill or providing the relevant information, there are certain commonly made errors mentioned below. It includes providing erroneous information or documents. Specifically, submitting missing or incorrect details, including consignor/consignee name, address, and GSTIN, are some of the commonly found errors.

• What is the potential reason for e-waybill extension?

When a transporter is unable to deliver the goods on time until an extension is granted, it could be due to situations like any natural disaster, sudden vehicle breakdown, route change, and more. However, you will have to take the permission of your state’s relevant authorities.

Prarabdh Gupta Freelance Content Writer & Strategist

Prarabdh Gupta is a finance content writer with 4+ Years of Industry experience in simplifying complex finance terms. He crafts captivating and engaging content around mutual funds, insurance, banking, real estate, taxation, and financial planning. He has completed his graduation from Jiwaji University, Gwalior.

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