The Jewelery Council said insisting on e-way bill could prevent free flow of trade and lead to “unnecessary” legal complications.
The All Indian Gem and Jewelery Domestic Council has said that it is not practical to introduce e-way bill for gold jewelery business. Council director S. Abdul Nassar said that gold jewelery is processed in multiple stages in different units and making e-way bill mandatory was not a practical solution to track business.
E-way bill includes any consignment of more than Rs 50,000. E-way bill is a system generated delivery note containing the origin of the consignment, its destination, value, as well as details and the carrier’s Aadhaar number, vehicle number etc. Gold jewelers now follow these steps with the delivery note. The systems are not generated, Mr. Nassar said. He said the demand for e-way bill is also a major security threat as one can trace the movement of the precious metal. Further, he added that the rise in the price of gold has put even a small quantity of gold in the above Rs 50,000 bracket.
The Jewelery Council also said that insisting on e-way bill could prevent free flow of trade and lead to “unnecessary” legal complications. There are several methods available with the GST department to trace business transactions, he added.
He said that gold trade is rampant and even the smallest villages of the country are witness to the transactions of gold jewelery and there are thousands who depend on handcrafted gold items.
The gold and jewelery business in the state is worth around Rs 50,000 crore annually and about eight lakh families depend on this business for their livelihood. There are around 15,000 small and big jewelers with around 5,000 processing units.
The Jewelery Council is of the opinion that the GST Department should utilize its existing facilities to detect any case of illegal transactions and smuggling of gold.
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