The last time the government tried to implement the E-way bill system, the GST Network (GSTN) crashed on the first day itself (February 1) and the bill had to be deferred. Now that it is coming back, the government is hoping there will be no further hiccups. Until now, the tax collection data shows that it will take some time for the monthly revenues from GST to reach the government's projections. The government also expects that the E-way bill will help in cutting tax evasion and thus, help raise collections.
So far, the worry is that the number of firms filing under GST is just 69 per cent of the number of tax registrants. The GST is still a work in progress and so is the E-way bill. If the GST collections do not pick up quickly and the fiscal deficit target for the new financial year comes under pressure, the government will have to introduce hasty measures for anti-evasion, which may actually be counterproductive when GST is showing some signs of stabilising.
Dipak Mondal