Despite continuous row between the Central GST department and the State tax department over the issue, Punjab’s finance minister Manpreet Badal is now eager to make a third amendment to the e-way bill rules in the state. The previous two changes by the ministry had caused conflicts between the governments.
The third amendment proposes to exempt e-way bill requirement for all job works. “Ever since September 13, when we doubled the exemption limit under an e-way bill to Rs 1 lakh and exempted fabric job work from e-way bill requirements for transportation of goods up to a distance of 50 kilometers, we have been receiving a lot of memorandums and requests from business associations of different sectors. They are of the view that exemption should be given to all kind of job work across all the sectors,” said Badal while speaking to a leading newspaper.
Based on the various meetings and discussions during which the request was considered seriously, the ministry has decided to include other sectors under the exemption from e-way bill requirements, with the same pattern as fabric industry. The government is doing everything in its power to solve the issues of businessmen and help the industry get back on track as soon as possible, added Badal.
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However, these actions of the Punjab government are not being appreciated by the Central GST commissionerate, which had recently accused the state government of not following the GST rules which require them to consult with the department before making changes to the e-way bill. Badal, in response, had denied the charge claiming that the state government had completely followed the rules of the GST Act which only requires them to inform the CGST commissionerate about the changes and not consult with them, which they did.
CGST commissionerate is, however, annoyed with the response from the Badal and is reportedly still pursuing the matter. The department had even reported the issue with the Central government mentioning its strong objections against the changes notified by Punjab. Based on the response from the CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs), the CGST dept may take further actions in the matter.
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