LUDHIANA: Even as the Central GST commissionerate and the Punjab taxation department have already locked horns over two modifications to the
e-way bill rules by the
Amarinder Singh government, state finance minister
Manpreet Badal is now considering a third amendment. The minister is now planning to exempt all kinds of job works from e-way bill requirement.
Speaking to TOI, Badal said, “Ever since September 13, when we doubled the exemption limit under 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 kilometres, 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.”
“Based upon latest inputs, we are considering their request seriously and after completion of all formalities, we will extend e-way bill exemption to other sectors as well on the same pattern as fabric,” Badal said.
“The Punjab government is very serious about solving problems being faced by businessmen of the state and we will take every step possible to bring the trade and industry back on track of progress,” Badal added.
Recently, the CGST commissionerate had accused the Punjab government and its taxation department of violating the rules of GST Act by modifying e-way bill without “mandatory consultation” with it. Badal had refuted the charge and claimed that the Amarinder government had done everything under rules and added that as per the GST Act the states just needed to intimate the CGST department and not consult.
Meanwhile, TOI has learnt that Chandigarh-based CGST commissionerate, which had taken up the matter with the Union government and registered strong objections against Punjab’s notification of changes, is still pursuing the matter. The CGST officials are waiting got the response of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) before deciding future course of action.
Manpreet Badal 
