July's e-way bills 3rd highest despite rain-led disruptions

Electronic permits for goods shipments within and across states—the so-called e-way bills—inched up to 87.95 million in July, up from 86 million in June, suggesting continued momentum in economic activity in spite of heavy rains disrupting mobility in parts of North India.

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

The number of permits raised in July under the GST regime for goods movement is the third highest on record, e-way bill data shows.

Besides economic recovery, the government’s heightened vigil on tax compliance has been contributing to compliance under GST— both in terms of revenue collection and in reporting of transactions.

July’s robust e-way bill generation could in turn boost tax revenue collections in August, which will get reported on 1 September. The Centre and states collected ₹1.65 trillion in GST revenue, the third highest ever, in July, in line with government estimates of monthly average GST revenue receipts this fiscal.

GST revenue buoyancy is also seen as a result of higher reporting obligations on businesses.

From 1 August, the threshold for businesses to report wholesale transactions to designated portals for real-time authentication has been increased to include smaller entities with sales in the range of ₹5-10 crore.