E-way bill generation dips in April; may hit May’s GST collection

Generation of e-way bills, which are needed to ship goods within and across states, eased a notch in April, suggesting that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections this month could be lower than the previous month’s record high.

Data from GSTN, the company that processes GST returns, showed that 75.2 million e-way bills were generated in April, lower than the 78.1 million raised in March. However, the number is still the second highest since November 2020.

Businesses will pay GST for April transactions in May.

March had witnessed a spurt in e-way bills as companies pushed inventories at the end of the financial year to meet their targets, leading to a record INR1.68 trillion in GST revenue collections. The revenue to be collected in May for the transactions in April could reflect the slight moderation seen in e-way bill generation, which is taken by analysts as a high frequency indicator of economic activity.

Economic recovery and improved tax compliance have helped boost revenue collection in the recent past. It remains to be seen how the RBI’s increase of its main policy rate by 40 basis points to 4.40% to tame inflation will impact consumption. RBI had earlier flagged that private consumption’s share in gross domestic product is still a tad below pre-pandemic levels, going by FY22 estimates.

Source from - https://www.livemint.com/news/india/eway-bill-generation-eases-a-notch-in-april-11651759680854.html