The government notified the e-way bill on Thursday, exempting certain items of mass consumptions including vegetables, fruits, food grains, meat, bread, curd, books and jewellery, reported Economic Times.

Other items that are outside the ambit of the e-way bill includes contraceptives, judicial and non-judicial stamp paper, newspapers, khadi, raw silk, Indian flag, human hair, kajal, earthen pots, cheques, municipal waste, puja samagri, LPG, kerosene, heating aids and currency.

The generation of e-way bill will also not be required in two of the following cases, reported the paper. One, if the goods are transported by a non-motorised conveyance. And two, if the goods are being transported from a port, airport, air cargo complex and land customs station to an inland container depot or a container freight station for clearance by customs.

An e-way bill is required even if goods are transferred from one vehicle to the other. And, for multiple consignments, transporters need to generate a consolidated e-way bill.

The date from which the e-way bill, which will remove check-posts at state borders, would come into effect is yet to be notified. However, sources in the GST Council had earlier told Moneycontrol that the e-way bill rules will likely become effective from October 1.

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Depending on the distance covered or needed to transport the goods, the e-way bill number (EBN) will remain valid for one to 15 days — one day for distances up to 100-km and 15 days for distances of more than 1,000 km.

E-way bill concerns the ferrying of goods worth more than Rs 50,000 within or outside a state under the GST regime, whereby, transportation of goods will require securing an e-way bill by prior online registration of the consignment.

To generate an e-way bill, the supplier and transporter will have to upload details on the GSTN portal, after which a unique EBN will be made available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter on the common portal.

According to the report, the e-way bill can be generated as well as cancelled via SMS.

The GST Council had earlier rationalised rates of 19 services including textile jobs and government work contracts, cut taxes on certain tractor parts to 18 percent from 28 percent.

“While these rules will ensure that a common form is applicable across India, the industry has highlighted various issues on the e-way bill provisions that they are concerned about. There should be wider debate and consultation with the industry before implementation of these rules, else the supply chain bottlenecks and operational challenges may far outweigh the perceived benefit this system has to offer,” said Pratik Jain, indirect tax leader, PwC told the newspaper.