New Delhi: The newly launched e-way bill system will be tested on Monday as trading activity picks up and the system faces increased loads.
E-way bill or electronic documentation of movement of goods has been made mandatory for all inter-state movement of goods from 1 April. It will be made mandatory for all movement of goods within each Indian state in a phased manner later.
Traders are apprehensive of whether the e-way bill system will cause a disruption in business if it is unable to manage increased volumes expected on Monday. The e-way bill system was initially made mandatory from 1 February but technological glitches, which led to long delays in bill generation, forced deferment of the rollout.
“1 April being Sunday the despatches across the country are very few. The real test for the e-way bill to be able to handle the load will be known on Monday when businesses start logging in for creating e-way bills. We hope there’s no flaw this time as the entire trade community gets affected,” said Abhishek Gupta, office-bearer at Bombay Goods Transport Association (BGTA).
On Sunday, around 2 lakh e-way bills were generated and this is expected to surge on Monday.
Prakash Kumar, chief executive officer of the goods and services tax network (GSTN) said that volumes on Sunday are typically only one-fourth of that seen on a working day.
After initial glitches, GSTN along with National Informatics Centre ramped up the infrastructure to handle the increased load. The system is prepared to handle around 75 lakh e-way bills daily, Kumar had said earlier in an interview, as against the earlier capacity of around 26 lakh e way bills daily.
However, this may not be enough, according to Gupta, as an estimated 70 lakh trucks are used for goods transportation and each truck carries multiple shipments that will require individual e-way bills.