Tying up one of the loose ends of the goods and services tax (GST) regime, the government is likely to implement the pending e-way bill project from October with National Informatics Centre (NIC) as the technology partner.

“Discussions have already taken place with NIC on the issue. They have the technology platform to work it out,” said an official, adding that it will be formally handed over the responsibility when the GST Council approves the rules for the e-way bill.

The Council is expected to meet next month.

Sources said NIC had already worked on a similar project with Karnataka and will now have to scale up its model for an all-India usage.

While the logistics industry has had reservations over the e-way bill, officials said that the final rules will try and accommodate its concerns.

Further, the e-way bill will be accompanied with the use of advanced IT tools to ensure proper tracking of the movement of goods across States to prevent revenue leakage.

According to the draft e-way bill, issued in April, movement of goods worth over ₹50,000 has to be mandatorily registered with the GST Network. The GST Council is expected to approve the rules at its meeting on Sunday.

However, it could not be rolled out from July 1 along with the tax due to a lack of technological preparation. States were asked to continue with their earlier systems.

Officials said that efforts will be to ensure that the e-way bill is implemented over the next few months by October.

The issue has become a top priority with much confusion prevailing at State borders and officials checking vehicles for GST payment.

According to official estimates, an average Indian truck covers only about 50,000-60,000 km a year against three lakh km done by a truck in the US. The government has been hopeful that the e-way bill will increase efficiency of the sector.

At present, though 23 States have abolished checkposts, the lack of the e-way bill has hindered seamless movement of goods under GST.