Design Architecture for B2C E-invoicing almost Ready; Says GSTN CEO

The design architecture for deploying GST e-invoicing for retailers is nearly complete and is being reviewed by industry experts, GST Network CEO Manish Kumar Sinha said on Tuesday.

E-invoicing is already used in the B2B industry. The GST Council resolved earlier this month to extend e-invoice to the B2C sector as a pilot.

Sinha stated that the GST department is currently in discussions with the industry about issuing electronic invoices for all B2C transactions.

“Initially, we will do a pilot project. The architecture design is nearly complete, and we are having it reviewed by some of the industry’s best. After that, we will release a document outlining how to proceed,” Sinha said at an Assocham event here.

The threshold for companies required to issue e-invoices is currently being decided.

“We need to give time to the industry, particularly small mom-and-pop stores. We want to get the technology right. Large organized retail, e-commerce operators and large companies…have an effective IT setup with them, or at least encourage them to start using it,” Sinha said.

E-invoicing for business-to-business (B2B) transactions is now essential for companies having a turnover of more than Rs.500 crore under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) law, effective October 1, 2020. It was eventually expanded to those with a turnover of more than Rs. 5 crore.