GST Basics #23: Sections 129 and 130 — When Your Goods Are Stopped in Transit

What actually happens when an officer stops your vehicle: the MOV forms from interception to confiscation, the three-day inspection limit, who counts as the owner of the goods, and the minor errors that must not become a detention case.

Your lorry is stopped at a check point and the officer asks for papers. What happens next is governed by Sections 129 and 130 of the CGST Act, and the procedure is set out in detail in CBIC's Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST, at https://cbic-gst.gov.in/pdf/circularno-41-cgst.pdf

Section 68 requires the person carrying goods to have the prescribed documents, ordinarily the invoice and the e-way bill. An officer may intercept the vehicle and ask to see them. If nothing looks wrong, the vehicle goes on its way. If the officer wants to look further, he records a statement from the driver in Form GST MOV-01 and passes an order in Form GST MOV-02 requiring the vehicle to be taken to a stated place for inspection.

That inspection is meant to be quick. The circular gives the officer three days, originally worded "three working days" and changed to plain "three days" by Circular No. 49/23/2018-GST, at https://cbic-gst.gov.in/pdf/Circular-49-2018.pdf Any longer needs the Commissioner's written permission in Form GST MOV-03. The findings go into a report in Form GST MOV-04, and a summary must be uploaded to the e-way bill portal in Form GST EWB-03, Part A within twenty-four hours and Part B within three days.

If the goods are clean, the officer releases them in Form GST MOV-05. If not, he detains them in Form GST MOV-06 and issues a notice in Form GST MOV-07 stating the tax and penalty he proposes. You can pay and take the goods, or furnish a bond with a bank guarantee in Form GST MOV-08 and get them released while the case is decided. The final demand comes in Form GST MOV-09.

Two clarifications matter here. Who counts as the "owner of the goods" decides how much is payable, and CBIC's Circular No. 76/50/2018-GST says that where the invoice or other specified document accompanies the consignment, "either the consignor or the consignee should be deemed to be the owner"; otherwise the officer decides. And a small clerical slip should not become a detention case at all. Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST lists six of them, including a spelling mistake in a name where the GSTIN is right, a wrong pin code, and one or two wrong digits in the vehicle number. Those attract only Rs. 500 each under the Central and State Acts, and no Section 129 proceeding.

Section 130 is the more serious road. Where tax and penalty go unpaid, or where the officer believes the movement was meant to evade tax, he issues a confiscation notice in Form GST MOV-10 and, after hearing you, a confiscation order in Form GST MOV-11, at which point the goods become government property until redeemed.

The 2018 circular predates later amendments to the penalty amounts in Section 129, so read the current section before accepting any figure. See also our instalments on the tax invoice, on demands under Sections 73 and 74, and on appealing an order under Section 107 — a MOV-09 order is appealable like any other.

Topics:section 129section 130detention of goodse-way billMOV-01MOV-06MOV-09confiscationgoods in transitGST basicsChennai GSTTamil Nadu GST

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