RFID/FASTag has been integrated with the e-way bill system and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities will now be able to track real-time data of commercial vehicle (CV) movement on highways by integration of the e-way bill (EWB) system with FASTag and RFID.
Context
RFID/FASTag has been integrated with the e-way bill system and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities will now be able to track real-time data of commercial vehicle (CV) movement on highways by integration of the e-way bill (EWB) system with FASTag and RFID.
About the New System
- From January 1, 2021, RFID/FASTag was integrated with the e-way bill system.
- Under this a transporter is required to have a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag in his vehicle and details of the e-way bill are uploaded into the RFID system.
- When a vehicle passes the RFID tag reader on the highway, the details fed into the device get uploaded on the government portal.
- The information is later used by revenue authorities to validate the supplies made by a GST registered person.
How the new system is useful?
- Tax officers can now access reports about vehicles that have passed the selected tolls without e-way bills in the past few minutes.
- They can also view details of vehicles carrying critical commodities specific to the state that have passed the selected toll.
- Further, tax authorities can view details of any suspicious vehicles and vehicles of e-way bills generated by suspicious taxpayer GST identification numbers (GSTINs) that have passed the selected toll on a near real-time basis.
- Officers can use these reports while conducting vigilance and make the vigilance activity more effective. Moreover, officers of the audit and enforcement wing can use these reports to identify fraudulent transactions like bill trading, recycling of e-way bills.
e-way bills
- e-way bills have been made mandatory for inter-state transportation of goods valued over Rs 50,000 from April 2018, with exemption to precious item such as gold.
- It comes under the indirect tax regime.
- The top five states which generated the maximum number of e-way are: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
- The top five sectors where maximum e-way bills are: textiles, electrical machinery, machinery and mechanical appliances, iron and steel, and automobiles.
FASTag/RFID
- FASTag is an electronic toll collection system operated by the National Highway Authority of India.
- FASTag is an easy-to-use, reloadable tag that is affixed on vehicle's windscreen.
- It enables automatic deduction of toll charges.
- FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amounts are deducted.
- Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects.
- The Government of India (GOI) has mandated all toll plazas on the national highways to make toll payments electronic.
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