The e-way bills generated for transporting goods within and across states surged to an all-time high in December 2022. This indicator suggests that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in January 2023 is likely robust.

As per the GST Network (GSTN) data, taxpayers have generated more than 8.41 crore e-way bills in December 2022, which exceeds the earlier highest of 8.4 crore e-way bills raised in September 2022. 

The higher e-way bill generation in September 2022 led to robust GST collections of 1.52 lakh crore in October 2022. Hence, e-way bills can be considered a high-frequency indicator of economic activity. More goods transported across the country in December 2022 points towards strong GST collections in January 2023. 

The e-way bill generation had moderated in October 2022 from the level seen in September 2022 due to the higher number of holidays in October. Also, the e-way bill generation picked up momentum in November and December 2022 as consumption remained strong as the country emerged from the pandemic. We can observe that element of bottled-up demand for two years supported consumption during the festive season.

GST collections have remained bullish this year on the back of economic recovery and the steps taken to improve tax compliance. Central and state GST authorities have gradually tightened the reporting requirements that increased the government’s oversight of economic activities and aided in improved compliance.