Context

RFID/FASTag was integrated with the e-way bill system in January 2021 as a result 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 working of 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.