E-Way Bill Under GST: The Complete Guide
When it is needed and when it is not, who has to generate it, how long it stays valid, what happens at a check post, and which mistakes actually attract a penalty — set out in one place, from the first consignment to a detention notice under Section 129.
⚡ The Numbers You Need Most
An e-way bill is the document that permits goods to move. Not the invoice, not the lorry receipt — the e-way bill. Get it wrong and a consignment worth lakhs can sit at a check post while a penalty of twice the tax is computed, and the law gives the officer that power even where the tax itself has been fully paid.
Most of what follows is settled and stable. What catches businesses out is rarely the headline rule; it is the detail — that the ₹50,000 limit applies to movement and not to supply, that Part B left blank makes the whole document invalid, that an invoice older than 180 days can no longer be used at all, or that the validity table was changed from 100 km to 200 km in 2021 and a great deal of material still in circulation never caught up.
The Basics: What an E-Way Bill Actually Is
An electronic document generated on the common portal, evidencing the movement of goods. It comes in two halves, and both matter.
📄 Part A — the consignment
- GSTIN of supplier and recipient
- Place of delivery, with PIN code
- Document number and date — tax invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan or bill of entry
- Value of goods and HSN code
- Reason for transportation
🚚 Part B — the vehicle
- Road: vehicle number, and transporter document number and date
- Rail: railway receipt number and date
- Air: airway bill number and date
- Ship: bill of lading number and date
- Vehicle type — regular or over-dimensional cargo
On generation the portal issues a unique E-Way Bill Number (EBN), available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter alike. One EBN is valid throughout India — there is no separate State-wise document.
The seven rules, in plain language
| Rule | Statutory heading | What it really governs |
|---|---|---|
| 138 | Information to be furnished prior to commencement of movement | The main rule — when an e-way bill is needed, who generates it, validity, and the exemption list. |
| 138A | Documents and devices to be carried | What the driver must have in the cab. |
| 138B | Verification of documents and conveyances | The officer's power to intercept. |
| 138C | Inspection and verification of goods | Physical inspection and the reporting timelines in EWB-03. |
| 138D | Facility for uploading information regarding detention | The transporter's right to report a vehicle held up beyond 30 minutes, in EWB-04. |
| 138E | Restriction on furnishing information in Part A | Blocking, where returns have not been filed. |
| 138F | Intra-State movement of gold, precious stones etc. | The separate regime for gold and precious stones, where a State has notified it. |
📑 E-way bill, tax invoice and e-invoice are three different things
A tax invoice evidences the supply and records the value and tax. An e-invoice is that invoice reported to the Invoice Registration Portal, which returns an IRN and QR code. An e-way bill permits the physical movement.
They are complementary, not alternatives. Generating an e-invoice does not dispense with the e-way bill, and generating an e-way bill does not satisfy e-invoicing. Where both apply, both must be done.
When an E-Way Bill Is Required
The trigger is the movement of goods. Not the sale, not the invoice — the movement.
This is the single most useful idea in the whole subject, and the one most often misunderstood. An e-way bill can be required even where there is no sale at all, no transfer of ownership and no GST payable on the transaction.
✅ Required — movement by way of supply
- Ordinary outward sale of goods
- Inward supply where the recipient causes the movement
- Inward supply liable to tax under reverse charge
- Export and import movements to or from the port, airport, ICD or CFS
- Stock transfer between distinct persons
✅ Required — movement other than by supply
- Goods sent to a job worker and returned
- Goods sent for repair, testing, approval or demonstration
- Goods sent to an exhibition or trade fair
- Sales return and rejected goods
- Movement for the trust's or firm's own use, captive use, branch use or samples
- Line sales, where the buyer is not yet known
🔧 Goods moving as part of a supply of services
Where a transaction is treated as a supply of services but still involves goods physically moving — leasing of equipment, or delivery of food and drink, for example — an e-way bill is required, because goods are moving.
The converse is equally important. Where a service is performed using goods that do not move — the goods are simply consumed at the site — Rule 138 is not attracted. The test is always movement.
Threshold Limits — and the Trap Inside Them
₹50,000 for inter-State movement. For movement within a State, it depends entirely on which State.
Consignment value — what goes into the figure
Consignment value is the value determined under Section 15 of the CGST Act, as declared in the tax invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan for that consignment. Two adjustments matter:
➕ Include
- Central tax, State or Union Territory tax, Integrated tax
- Cess charged in the document
➖ Exclude
- The value of exempt supply of goods, where a single invoice covers both exempt and taxable goods
GST @ 18% = ₹ 7,560
Exempt goods on same bill = ₹15,000 (excluded)
Consignment value = ₹49,560 → below ₹50,000
Invoice total is ₹64,560, but the consignment value for e-way bill purposes is ₹49,560. Taking the invoice total instead of the consignment value is one of the most common errors in practice — in both directions.
Intra-State limits, State by State
| Limit | States | Union Territories |
|---|---|---|
| Exceeding ₹1,00,000 | Tamil Nadu · Delhi · Bihar · Jharkhand · Madhya Pradesh · Maharashtra · Punjab · Rajasthan | — |
| Exceeding ₹50,000 | Andhra Pradesh · Assam · Chhattisgarh · Goa · Gujarat · Haryana · Himachal Pradesh · Karnataka · Kerala · Manipur · Meghalaya · Mizoram · Nagaland · Odisha · Puducherry · Sikkim · Telangana · Uttar Pradesh · Uttarakhand · West Bengal | Lakshadweep · Ladakh · Andaman & Nicobar Islands · Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu · Chandigarh · Jammu & Kashmir |
These are the general limits. Several States prescribe different treatment for intra-district movement, for movement within specified areas, or for particular goods — so the relevant State notification should be checked before concluding that a movement is below the limit.
⚠️ Inter-State supply is not the same as inter-State movement
The threshold attaches to the movement, not to the nature of the supply. The two can part company, and the ICAI's own illustration shows it neatly:
Goods worth ₹65,000 move from Mr A in Chennai to Mr B's unit in a Special Economic Zone, also in Chennai. Under Section 7 of the IGST Act, a supply to an SEZ unit is an inter-State supply. But the goods never leave Tamil Nadu, so the movement is intra-State. Tamil Nadu's intra-State limit is ₹1,00,000. No e-way bill is mandatory.
Not every inter-State supply produces inter-State movement, and not every intra-State supply produces intra-State movement. Always ask where the goods physically go.
📌 Two cases where value is irrelevant
Inter-State movement of goods to a job worker requires an e-way bill irrespective of consignment value, and inter-State movement of handicraft goods by a person exempted from registration likewise. The ₹50,000 figure does not help in either case.
When No E-Way Bill Is Required
Rule 138(14) lists fifteen situations. Knowing them well prevents a great deal of unnecessary work.
| # | Situation | In short |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Goods specified in the Annexure to Rule 138 | The listed items — LPG for household supply, kerosene under PDS, postal baggage, precious stones and jewellery, currency, used personal effects, unworked coral and similar |
| (b) | Transport by non-motorised conveyance | Handcart, bullock cart, cycle |
| (c) | Customs port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station to an ICD or CFS for clearance | Port-to-ICD leg |
| (d) | Movement within areas notified under the State or UT Rules | State-notified exempt areas |
| (e) | Goods in the Schedule to Notification No. 2/2017-Central Tax (Rate), other than de-oiled cake | Goods exempt from GST |
| (f) | Alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, petrol, natural gas, aviation turbine fuel | The six non-GST goods |
| (g) | Supply treated as no supply under Schedule III | Neither goods nor services |
| (h) | Movement under customs bond, customs supervision or customs seal | Under Customs control |
| (i) | Transit cargo from or to Nepal or Bhutan | Transit cargo |
| (j) | Goods exempt under Notification No. 7/2017-CT(R) and No. 26/2017-CT(R) | CSD canteens and Nuclear Power Corporation |
| (k) | Movement caused by a defence formation under the Ministry of Defence as consignor or consignee | Defence movement |
| (l) | Consignor is the Central Government, a State Government or a local authority, for transport by rail | Government rail consignments |
| (m) | Empty cargo containers | Empty containers |
| (n) | Up to 20 km from the consignor's place of business to a weighbridge and back, under a delivery challan issued under Rule 55 | Weighment within 20 km |
| (o) | Empty LPG cylinders moved other than for supply | Empty LPG cylinders |
Who Has to Generate It
The short answer is the registered person who causes the movement. The long answer depends on the scenario.
| Movement | What it covers | Who generates |
|---|---|---|
| Supply | Outward taxable supply; also inward supply under reverse charge where the recipient moves the goods | The registered person causing the movement — supplier or recipient |
| Export or import | Movement to or from a port, airport, ICD, CFS or other customs station | The registered exporter or importer causing the movement. On import, the importer may generate it from the bill of entry and transport details |
| Job work | Principal to job worker and back | Usually the principal. A registered job worker may generate it for the return leg. If the job worker is unregistered, the principal does. Inter-State: required irrespective of value |
| SKD or CKD | Semi or completely knocked down condition, in batches or lots | The supplier or recipient causing movement, for each consignment separately |
| Line sales | Van sales on a route where the buyer is not known at the start | The supplier, using the reason "Recipient Not Known" or "Line Sales" |
| Sales return | Rejection, quality issues, excess supply | The registered recipient returning the goods; alternatively the original supplier as recipient of the returned goods |
| Exhibition or fair | To a trade fair, demo location or event, whether or not a sale follows | The registered person sending the goods, generally under a delivery challan |
| For own use | Captive use, branch use, samples, office use | The registered person causing the movement. Where an unregistered person buys for personal use and the supplier moves the goods, the supplier may generate it |
| Others | Repair, testing, approval, demonstration, stock or branch transfer | The registered person causing the movement. If handed to a road transporter and neither supplier nor recipient has generated it, the transporter must |
🪪 Unregistered persons and transporters can generate it too
An unregistered transporter enrols under Registration → Enrolment as Transporter and receives a 15-digit Transporter ID (TRANSIN) in the format of a GSTIN.
An unregistered person enrols through FORM ENR-03 under Registration → Enrolment for URP, and receives a 15-digit Enrolment ID. There is also a Citizen Enrolment facility for one-off movements of goods for personal use.
Where a party to the transaction has no GSTIN, "URP" is entered in the GSTIN field.
Validity — and the 100 km Error Still in Circulation
Validity runs on distance. The figure was changed five years ago and a surprising amount of published material still carries the old one.
✕ The outdated rule
"One day for every 100 km." This was correct until 31 December 2020. It still appears in circulating notes, in training material, and even in the FAQ section of otherwise authoritative publications.
✓ The current rule
"One day for every 200 km," substituted by Notification No. 94/2020-Central Tax dated 22 December 2020, with effect from 1 January 2021. Using 100 km will make you extend e-way bills you did not need to extend.
| Distance | Validity |
|---|---|
| Up to 200 km | One day — cases other than over-dimensional cargo, or a multimodal shipment with at least one leg by ship |
| Every further 200 km or part | One additional day |
| Up to 20 km | One day — over-dimensional cargo, or a multimodal shipment with at least one leg by ship |
| Every further 20 km or part | One additional day |
🕛 How a "day" is actually counted
This is not twenty-four hours. Validity is counted from the relevant date — the date and time of generation — and each day expires at midnight of the day immediately following.
So an e-way bill generated at 11:30 pm on Monday for a 150 km journey expires at midnight on Tuesday, giving roughly twenty-four and a half hours. One generated at 6:00 am on Monday for the same journey also expires at midnight on Tuesday, giving forty-two hours. Generating late in the evening quietly costs you most of a day.
3 days for the full blocks + 1 day for the part
Validity = 4 days
Generated 6 Oct at 10:00 am → expires midnight of 10 October
Over-dimensional cargo on the same route: 710 ÷ 20 = 35 blocks plus a part, so 36 days.
▶️ Validity starts with the first Part B entry — not with Part A
The clock begins when the first entry is made in Part B — the vehicle number for road, or the first transport document number for rail, air or ship. It is not recalculated for later Part B entries, so changing the vehicle mid-journey does not reset anything.
This is why Part A can be filled in advance without starting the clock, and why the validity of an e-way bill whose vehicle is updated after a breakdown still runs from the original generation.
Generating an E-Way Bill, Step by Step
On the portal, login is now protected by two-factor authentication — username and password, plus an OTP.
Transaction type
Outward if you are causing goods to go out; Inward if you are causing goods to come in. Either can be for supply or for something other than supply.
Sub-type
Outward: Supply, Export, Job Work, SKD/CKD/Lots, Recipient Not Known, For Own Use, Exhibition or Fairs, Line Sales, Others.
Inward: Supply, Import, SKD/CKD/Lots, Job Work Returns, Sales Return, Exhibition or Fairs, For Own Use, Others.
Document type
Tax invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan or others, matching the sub-type. A document number once used cannot be repeated.
Transaction pattern
Regular, Bill To / Ship To, Bill From / Dispatch From, or a combination of both.
Addresses
One side auto-populates from your GSTIN; you key in the other. Note that the form asks for place of delivery, not place of supply.
Item details
Product name, description, HSN, quantity, unit, taxable value, rate, CGST and SGST or IGST, and cess. Use "+" for multiple items.
Transport details
Transporter ID and name, mode, approximate distance, and Part B. Select regular or over-dimensional cargo — it changes the validity.
The portal shows an auto-calculated PIN-to-PIN distance to check your figure against.
🧭 "Place of delivery" is not "place of supply"
FORM GST EWB-01 asks for the place of delivery — where the goods physically land. Place of supply is a legal conclusion drawn under the IGST Act and can be somewhere else entirely, typically the location of the recipient. The e-way bill creates a contemporaneous trail of physical movement; it is not the place to resolve a place-of-supply question. Enter the GSTIN of the recipient and the place of delivery auto-populates.
⚙️ Set up your masters once, and save hours later
Under My Masters you can store client, supplier, transporter and product masters. Once stored, typing a few characters auto-populates the trade name, GSTIN, address, HSN code and tax rate. This is the single most effective way of eliminating the typing errors that later become penalty disputes — and Bulk Upload lets you load them all at once.
Where you operate from several branches or godowns, create sub-users under User Management with rights limited to each location, rather than sharing one login.
📲 Five ways to generate, besides the web form
Portal entry · Bulk upload for many bills at once · SMS for a single bill from a registered mobile · the mobile app · and API or GSP integration, which lets your accounting or ERP system generate the e-way bill directly from the invoice. For any business generating more than a handful a day, API integration removes the re-keying step where most errors originate.
The Situations That Cause Most of the Trouble
Straightforward A-to-B movements rarely go wrong. These are the ones that do.
Bill To / Ship To
A buys from B and asks B to deliver directly to C. In Part A you furnish three addresses:
- Place of Dispatch — where the goods actually start
- Bill To — the party on whose instructions the goods move
- Ship To — where the goods must be delivered
Getting this right matters: the Supreme Court has upheld the quashing of a Section 129 demand where the e-way bill in a Bill-to-Ship-to transaction correctly showed the ultimate buyer's place of delivery and the goods matched the documents.
Bill From / Dispatch From
Where goods are diverted mid-movement to a third party at the instance of the second party, the e-way bill for the leg from the point of diversion is generated with reference to the invoice issued by the second party to the third party. Bill From is the second party who raised that bill; Dispatch From is the place the goods actually leave, which is not the second party's premises.
Consolidated e-way bill — FORM GST EWB-02
Where one vehicle carries several consignments, each with its own e-way bill, the transporter generates a consolidated e-way bill listing the individual EBNs. Two points are often missed: only a transporter can generate it, and it has no validity period of its own — the validity of each underlying e-way bill continues to govern.
Multi-vehicle movement
Where one consignment covered by a single e-way bill has to be split across several smaller vehicles at a transshipment point — a hill route, or the unavailability of a large vehicle — use Change to Multi-Vehicle rather than generating fresh e-way bills.
SKD, CKD and goods in lots
Under Rule 55(5), the supplier issues the complete invoice before the first consignment, then a delivery challan for each later consignment referencing that invoice. Each later consignment carries its delivery challan with a certified copy of the invoice, and the original invoice travels with the last consignment. Every consignment needs its own e-way bill.
Vehicle breakdown or change en route
Update Part B with the new vehicle number and select the reason. A fresh e-way bill is not generated, and importantly the validity continues to run from the original e-way bill — a breakdown does not buy you more time. If the delay will outlast the validity, the answer is an extension, not a new vehicle entry.
The 50 km relaxation on Part B
Part B is not mandatory where goods move within the same State for up to 50 km, either from the consignor's place of business to the transporter's premises, or from the transporter's premises to the consignee. Outside those two narrow cases, an e-way bill without Part B is invalid for road movement — Explanation 2 to Rule 138(3) says so expressly.
Cancelling, Rejecting, Extending and Updating
Four different actions, four different windows, four different people entitled to take them.
| Action | Window | Who and what |
|---|---|---|
| Cancel | 24 hours from generation | The generator, where the e-way bill is wrong or goods are not transported. It cannot be cancelled once movement has commenced or once it has been verified in transit — handle that by documentation and a fresh e-way bill. |
| Reject | 72 hours from generation, or before delivery, whichever is earlier | The other party, where someone has generated an e-way bill against their GSTIN wrongly. Silence is acceptance — if nothing is communicated within 72 hours, the details are deemed accepted. |
| Extend validity | 8 hours before to 8 hours after expiry | The transporter, in exceptional circumstances including transshipment. Enter current place, remaining distance and Part B details. Part A cannot be changed. New validity is based on the distance still to travel. |
| Update Part B | Any time while valid | Generator or assigned transporter. No limit on the number of times the vehicle number can be updated, but validity never restarts. |
⚠️ Part A can never be edited. Not once, not ever.
Once generated, no field in Part A can be modified — not the GSTIN, not the value, not the document number, not the HSN. The only remedy is to cancel within 24 hours and generate afresh.
After 24 hours, or once movement has begun, you are left with a document carrying an error and a commercial decision about whether to move. This is exactly why masters and API integration are worth setting up.
⏰ What to do when validity has already expired
If you are still inside the eight-hour grace period after expiry, extend. If that window has closed, the goods cannot lawfully move on that e-way bill. The Supreme Court has confirmed that a transporter cannot escape the obligation to generate a fresh e-way bill where the consignment was not moved within the validity period — although in that case it reduced the penalty by half because the goods were the appellant's own capital goods, not goods for sale.
Practically: set an alert at 75% of the validity period, not at expiry. The eight-hour window is easy to sleep through.
What Changed Recently
Four developments that are not yet in much of the material circulating on the subject.
📅 The 180-day document rule
From 1 January 2025, an e-way bill cannot be generated against a document dated more than 180 days earlier. An invoice that has aged past six months simply cannot be moved against.
This hits businesses that invoice first and ship much later — project supplies, goods held pending customer readiness, and stock lying with a transporter after a cancelled delivery.
🔁 The 360-day extension cap
Also from 1 January 2025, the validity of an e-way bill cannot be extended beyond 360 days from its original generation. Previously extensions could be rolled indefinitely.
Long-running works contracts and equipment moved between sites over many months need a fresh document at some point, not a perpetually extended one.
🖥️ E-Way Bill 2.0 portal
From 1 July 2025, GSTN and NIC run a second portal at ewaybill2.gst.gov.in in real-time synchronisation with the original. It is a mirrored dual system, so if one portal is down you can continue on the other.
Generation, extension, transporter updates, Part-A based creation and consolidated e-way bill retrieval all work across either portal, regardless of where the bill was first created. All of it is available by API too.
🔐 Two-factor authentication
Login now requires an OTP in addition to the username and password. The OTP can be received by SMS on the registered mobile, or through the Sandes app or the NIC-GST-Shield app.
Worth doing before it becomes urgent: register the right mobile number, and install one of the apps as a fallback for when the person who holds the registered phone is unavailable.
🥇 Gold and precious stones — Rule 138F
A separate rule governs intra-State movement of gold, precious stones and similar goods, where the State has notified it. The ordinary Rule 138 e-way bill does not apply to such movements in those States; the Rule 138F procedure does. Jewellers and bullion dealers should check their own State's notification rather than assuming the general rule.
Blocking: When the Portal Simply Refuses
Rule 138E, in force since 21 November 2019. It is the consequence of not filing returns, and it stops the business rather than fining it.
Rule 138E — the triggerNo person — including a consignor, consignee, transporter, e-commerce operator or courier agency — shall be allowed to furnish information in PART A of FORM GST EWB-01 in respect of a registered person who:
(a) paying tax under Section 10 (composition) or availing Notification No. 2/2019-CT(R), has not furnished FORM GST CMP-08 for two consecutive quarters; or
(b) in any other case, has not furnished returns for two consecutive tax periods.
🚨 Blocking hits your customers, not only you
Read the rule carefully. It bars any person from furnishing Part A in respect of the defaulting registered person. So if your supplier is blocked, you cannot generate an e-way bill naming them either — and nor can the transporter.
A business that stops filing for two tax periods does not merely face a late fee; it becomes commercially untouchable, because nobody in its supply chain can move goods to or from it. This is why blocking is the most disruptive consequence in the entire e-way bill framework.
✅ The normal cure
File the outstanding returns. Unblocking is automatic and usually within a few hours of the default being cleared. In the vast majority of cases this is the whole answer, and no application is needed.
📝 The exceptional route
Where returns genuinely cannot be filed immediately, apply to the jurisdictional Commissioner in FORM GST EWB-05. If sufficient cause is shown, an order in FORM GST EWB-06 allows Part A to be furnished, subject to conditions. The application cannot be rejected without a hearing.
Interception, Inspection and Detention — the MOV Forms
The procedure is laid down in Circular No. 41/15/2018-GST dated 13 April 2018. Knowing the sequence and the timelines is the most useful thing a business can have when a vehicle is stopped.
An officer authorised by the Commissioner may intercept any conveyance to verify the e-way bill, for both inter-State and intra-State movement. The e-way bill number may be produced in physical form, electronic form, by SMS, as a printout, or even written on the invoice. If nothing is found wrong at this stage, the vehicle moves on and no form is issued at all.
| Form | Stage | What it is and the timeline |
|---|---|---|
| MOV-01 | Statement | Statement of the owner, driver or person in charge, recorded where documents are not produced or an inspection is intended. |
| MOV-02 | Inspection order | Order for physical verification, requiring the vehicle to be stationed at a specified place. |
| MOV-03 | Extension | Order extending time beyond three days for inspection. Inspection must otherwise conclude within three days of MOV-02. |
| MOV-04 | Verification report | Physical verification report of the proper officer. |
| EWB-03 | Online reporting | Part A within 24 hours of inspection; Part B within three days. A summary report of every inspection, recorded on the portal. |
| MOV-05 | Release order | Issued where no discrepancy is found, or once the penalty or security has been furnished. This is the form you want. |
| MOV-06 | Detention order | Order of detention of goods or conveyance under Section 129. |
| MOV-07 | Penalty notice | Notice specifying the penalty payable, served on the person in charge. Within 7 days of detention. |
| MOV-08 | Bond | Bond for provisional release, with a bank guarantee equal to the amount payable. |
| MOV-09 | Penalty order | Speaking order determining penalty, after considering objections. Within 7 days of the notice. Uploaded to the portal and added to the electronic liability register. |
| MOV-10 | Confiscation notice | Notice proposing confiscation under Section 130, where evasion is alleged. |
| MOV-11 | Confiscation order | Order of confiscation. Title passes to the Government; up to three months is allowed to pay and redeem. Once passed, the earlier MOV-09 is withdrawn. |
⏳ The whole of Section 129 runs on a 14-day clock
The notice must issue within 7 days of detention, and the order within 7 days of the notice. Proceedings are therefore to be concluded within fourteen days of detention. Orders passed beyond these periods have repeatedly been challenged, and the timelines are worth checking in any detention matter.
If the amount determined is not paid within 15 days of the order, the goods or conveyance become liable to be sold or disposed of to recover it.
📣 Your right to report a stopped vehicle — FORM GST EWB-04
Rule 138D gives the transporter a facility that is barely used. Where a vehicle has been intercepted and detained for more than thirty minutes, the transporter may upload the information in FORM GST EWB-04 on the common portal, under the Grievance → Detention Form menu.
It creates a contemporaneous record of the time and place of detention. In a dispute about how long a consignment was held, or whether procedure was followed, that record is considerably more persuasive than a recollection offered months later.
What It Costs When It Goes Wrong
There are three distinct penalty provisions, and they bite in different situations. The Section 129 figures below are those in force since 1 January 2022.
Section 129 — detention and seizure in transit
| Situation | Taxable goods | Exempted goods |
|---|---|---|
| Owner comes forward Section 129(1)(a) | Penalty = 200% of the tax payable | 2% of the value of goods or ₹25,000, whichever is less |
| Owner does not come forward Section 129(1)(b) | Penalty = 50% of the value of the goods or 200% of the tax payable, whichever is higher | 5% of the value of goods or ₹25,000, whichever is less |
| Release of the conveyance proviso to Section 129(1) | Penalty as above, or ₹1,00,000, whichever is less | |
🔴 Since 1 January 2022 it is penalty only — but at a much higher rate
Before the Finance Act, 2021 amendment, Section 129 demanded tax plus a penalty equal to 100% of that tax. It now demands penalty of 200% of the tax, with no separate tax component.
The arithmetic is similar, but the characterisation is not, and a great deal of older material — including some still being issued — describes the position as "tax and penalty". If a notice computes both tax and a 100% penalty for a post-2022 detention, that is worth examining closely.
Note too how severe clause (b) is. On a consignment of ₹40 lakh of goods taxed at 18%, the penalty where the owner does not come forward is the higher of 50% of ₹40 lakh, which is ₹20 lakh, and 200% of ₹7.2 lakh, which is ₹14.4 lakh. The answer is ₹20 lakh. There is a very strong incentive for the owner to come forward.
Section 122(1)(xiv) — transporting without the specified documents
A taxable person who transports taxable goods without cover of the specified documents is liable to a penalty of ₹10,000 under the CGST Act and ₹10,000 under the SGST or UTGST Act — ₹20,000 in all — or the amount of tax sought to be evaded, whichever is greater.
Section 125 and Circular No. 64/38/2018 — the minor errors that do not justify detention
CBIC has expressly directed that where a consignment carries an invoice and an e-way bill, proceedings under Section 129 should not be initiated for the following, and a nominal general penalty should be imposed instead:
✅ Treated as minor errors
- Spelling mistakes in the consignor's or consignee's name, where the GSTIN is correct
- Error in the PIN code, where the address is correct — provided the error does not increase the validity period
- Error in the consignee's address, where the locality and other details are correct
- Error in one or two digits of the document number
- Error at the 4 or 6-digit level of HSN, where the first two digits and the tax rate are correct
- Error in one or two digits or characters of the vehicle number
💰 What should be charged instead
₹500 under the CGST Act and ₹500 under the State GST Act — ₹1,000 in all — per consignment, in FORM GST DRC-07. Under the IGST Act, ₹1,000.
If an officer proposes Section 129 for one of the listed errors, this circular is the answer. It is binding on the department, and High Courts have relied on it repeatedly to quash penalties.
Section 130 — confiscation
Reserved for cases where the officer forms the view that the movement was effected to evade tax. Goods and the conveyance become liable to confiscation, with a fine in lieu not exceeding the market value less the tax, and the aggregate of fine and penalty not less than 100% of the tax payable. Where the conveyance is used for carriage for hire, its owner may redeem it by paying a fine equal to the tax payable on the goods — and escapes entirely if it is proved the vehicle was used without the owner's knowledge or connivance. No confiscation order can be passed without a hearing.
What the Courts Have Decided
Most e-way bill penalty disputes turn on a single question: was there an intention to evade tax? The answer the courts have given, with growing consistency, is that without it a penalty under Section 129 will not stand.
The central principle — mens rea matters
A typographical mismatch between invoice and e-way bill is not evasion
Ms. Sangeeta Jain v. Union of India · Writ Tax No. 783 of 2023 · Allahabad High Court · 22 April 2024Penalty was imposed under Section 129(3) solely because the dispatch address in the e-way bill did not match the invoice. The goods in the vehicle matched the invoice and the e-way bill in description and quantity. The orders recorded no finding of intention to evade tax; the authority proceeded on the footing that mens rea was not required at all.
Held: that view is not correct in law. Following Hindustan Herbal Cosmetics v. State of U.P., intention to evade tax is essential for imposing penalty. A typographical error, without more, cannot attract penalty. Orders quashed and the amount directed to be refunded within four weeks.
Detention requires suspicion about the movement, not merely a missing form
M/s Indus Towers Limited v. Assistant State Tax Officer · W.P.(C) No. 196 of 2018 · Kerala High Court · 17 January 2018Goods moved under a delivery challan from a warehouse to tower sites without the then-applicable State declaration, which was uploaded only after detention. The authenticity of the delivery challan was never questioned, and IGST had been paid on the original inter-State purchase.
Held: Section 129 contemplates detention where the movement is under suspicion; confiscation under Section 130 is contemplated where a taxable supply is made contrary to the Act. A procedural omission, on goods moving under a genuine document, is not by itself enough.
An agent's error in naming the consignee is not fatal
State of Madhya Pradesh v. Robbins Tunnelling and Trenchless Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd. · SLP (C) No. 14196 of 2021 · Supreme Court · 17 September 2021On imported goods moving from Mumbai customs to Katni, the clearing agent entered its own name and address in the consignee column instead of the importer's. The mismatch with the bill of entry and bill of lading led to detention, tax and penalty. The appellate authority upheld it on the basis that the error was not clerical.
Held: the appellate authority was not justified in rejecting the appeal merely because the mistake was characterised as non-clerical. Tax and penalty quashed; the State's SLP dismissed by the Supreme Court.
A correct Bill-to-Ship-to e-way bill is not defective
Additional Commissioner Grade-2 (Appeal) v. Sleevco Traders · SLP (C) Diary No. 20769 of 2023 · Supreme Court · 5 July 2023In a Bill-to-Ship-to transaction the seller generated the e-way bill showing the ultimate buyer's place of delivery alongside the consignee's details. The goods matched the invoice and the e-way bill in every respect.
Held: the demand and penalty under Section 129 were unsustainable. The High Court went further and observed that the authorities ought not to have dragged the assessee into litigation absent any intent to evade tax, and imposed costs on the State. The SLP was dismissed.
Where the taxpayer lost — and why
Part B genuinely omitted over 1,300 km is not a technical breach
Gati Kintetsu Express (P.) Ltd. v. Commissioner, Commercial Tax, M.P. · W.P. No. 12399 of 2018 · Madhya Pradesh High Court · 5 July 2018Goods worth ₹1.12 crore with IGST of ₹19.52 lakh moved 1,200 to 1,300 km with Part B never generated. The transporter relied on VSL Alloys to argue a technical breach with no intent to evade.
Held: VSL Alloys is distinguishable — there, the distance was within 50 km and Part B was not required. Over 1,200 km it is mandatory to fill Part B with the vehicle number before loading. Penalty upheld.
…but Part B left blank for the short first leg is not a ground for seizure
VSL Alloys (India) (P.) Ltd. v. State of U.P. · Writ Tax No. 637 of 2018 · Allahabad High Court · 13 April 2018Goods moved from the factory to the transporter's premises, from where a different vehicle — whose number was not yet known — would carry them onward to Rajkot. Part B was not filled, and the goods were seized in that first leg.
Held: no ill intention was found, and the petitioner was not required to fill Part B before the goods were loaded in the vehicle meant for the final destination. Mere non-mention of the vehicle number in Part B cannot be a ground for seizure. Notification No. 12/2018-Central Tax supports the 50 km relaxation.
An expired e-way bill is an expired e-way bill
Vardan Associates Pvt. Ltd. v. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax · 2023 INSC 1087 · Supreme Court · 31 October 2023A drilling machine — the appellant's own capital goods — moved from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal for a works contract and was intercepted after the e-way bill had expired. The delay was attributed to vehicle non-availability.
Held: the appellant could not avoid the obligation to generate a fresh e-way bill where the consignment was not moved within the validity period; on the date of interception there was no valid e-way bill. Demand upheld. Penalty reduced to 50% because the goods were the appellant's own capital goods moved for its own contractual work, not for sale — expressly under Article 142, and not to be treated as a precedent.
A mandatory document's defect is still a defect
Kairali Granites v. Assistant State Tax Officer · 2018 SCC OnLine Ker 2507 · Kerala High Court · 15 May 2018Marble, granite slabs and tiles moved with vehicle details not updated as required by Rule 138(2). The petitioner argued the defect was purely technical.
Held: since the e-way bill became mandatory from 1 April 2018, it could not be contended that a minor defect in a mandatory document is no ground for detention. Goods released against a bank guarantee for the amount demanded.
📌 How to read these together
There is no conflict between them once the distinction is seen. Where the document exists and is substantially correct, and the error is clerical, courts have consistently refused to sustain Section 129 penalties without a finding of intent to evade — and CBIC's own Circular No. 64/38/2018 says the same.
Where the document is absent, incomplete in a legally required respect, or expired, the outcome has been very different. Part B missing over 1,300 km, or an e-way bill whose validity has run out, is not characterised as a clerical slip however genuine the commercial explanation.
The practical lesson: always have a document, always complete Part B where it is required, and always watch the validity. Everything else is usually arguable; those three are not.
The Mistakes That Actually Cost Money
| The mistake | Why it happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Using the invoice total instead of the consignment value | The two differ when one bill covers exempt and taxable goods | Exclude exempt goods, include GST and cess. Check against the threshold, not against the invoice |
| Applying the wrong State's threshold | Assuming ₹50,000 everywhere | Maharashtra and seven other States use ₹1,00,000 for intra-State movement. Check where the goods move, not where the supply is taxed |
| Treating an inter-State supply as inter-State movement | SEZ supplies within the same city are the classic case | The threshold follows the physical movement |
| Leaving Part B blank beyond the 50 km relaxation | The vehicle is not finalised at generation | The relaxation is only for the consignor-to-transporter or transporter-to-consignee leg within the State. Otherwise the document is invalid |
| Letting validity lapse | Nobody is watching the clock on a multi-day haul | Alert at 75% of validity. Extension is possible only from 8 hours before to 8 hours after expiry |
| Generating at 11 pm | The day is counted to midnight of the following day, not for 24 hours | Generate in the morning wherever the schedule allows |
| No e-way bill for job work or stock transfer | "There is no sale, so no e-way bill" | Movement is the trigger. Inter-State job work movement needs one irrespective of value |
| Trying to correct Part A after generation | Assuming it works like an editable return | Part A can never be edited. Cancel within 24 hours and regenerate, or live with it |
| Ignoring e-way bills generated against your GSTIN | Nobody checks the portal | Silence for 72 hours is deemed acceptance. Review the "EWB generated by others" report regularly |
| Discovering a block on the day of dispatch | Returns not filed for two tax periods | Blocking also stops your customers and transporters from generating bills naming you. Keep filings current |
| An invoice that has aged past 180 days | Invoice raised early, goods shipped much later | Since 1 January 2025 no e-way bill can be generated against it. Align invoicing with despatch |
| Paying a Section 129 penalty on a listed minor error | Nobody cites Circular No. 64/38/2018 | For the six listed errors the correct charge is ₹1,000 in total, not Section 129 |
✅ The Dispatch Desk Checklist
Run through this before the vehicle leaves. It takes a minute and prevents almost every dispute in this article.
- Is an e-way bill needed at all? Check the consignment value against the correct threshold for the State the goods move in, and check the Rule 138(14) exemption list.
- Is the consignment value right? Include GST and cess, exclude exempt goods billed on the same invoice.
- Is this a value-irrelevant case? Inter-State job work movement and handicraft goods need one regardless of value.
- Is the document within 180 days? Older documents cannot be used at all.
- Is Part B complete? Unless this is the short intra-State leg within 50 km to or from the transporter.
- Is the distance entered honestly? Compare with the portal's PIN-to-PIN figure; it drives the validity.
- Is the vehicle type right? Over-dimensional cargo is 20 km per day, not 200.
- One vehicle, several consignments? The transporter generates a consolidated e-way bill in EWB-02.
- Does the driver have the documents? Invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan or bill of entry, plus the e-way bill in any readable form.
- Is an alert set at 75% of validity? Extension is possible only in a 16-hour window around expiry.
- Have you checked e-way bills generated against your GSTIN? Reject within 72 hours or they are deemed accepted.
- Are your GST returns current? Two missed tax periods block you and everyone trying to move goods to or from you.
📌 Key takeaway: The e-way bill is not a tax document — it is a movement document, and that single idea resolves most of the confusion around it. Goods moving for job work, repair, exhibition or own use need one just as much as goods being sold. The threshold follows the physical movement and not the nature of the supply. Part B left blank makes the document invalid rather than merely incomplete. And where a genuine, substantially correct e-way bill carries a clerical error, the law and the courts are firmly on the taxpayer's side — provided there is a document to defend in the first place.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the e-way bill limit?
For inter-State movement, an e-way bill is required where the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000. For movement within a State, the limit is set by that State — it is ₹1,00,000 in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, and ₹50,000 in most other States and Union Territories.
Is consignment value the same as the invoice value?
Not always. Consignment value is the value under Section 15 of the CGST Act as declared in the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan. It includes CGST, SGST, IGST and cess charged in the document, and excludes the value of exempt goods where a single invoice covers both exempt and taxable goods.
Is an e-way bill needed when there is no sale?
Yes, in many cases. The trigger is the movement of goods, not the supply. Goods moved for job work, repair, testing, exhibition, demonstration, replacement, return, stock transfer or own use can all require an e-way bill, usually under a delivery challan.
How long is an e-way bill valid?
One day for every 200 km or part thereof, and one day for every 20 km or part in the case of over-dimensional cargo or a multimodal shipment with at least one leg by ship. The 100 km figure that still appears in some material was replaced with effect from 1 January 2021 by Notification No. 94/2020-Central Tax.
When does the validity period start?
From the first entry made in Part B — the vehicle number for road transport, or the first transport document number for rail, air or ship. It is not recalculated for later Part B entries, so changing the vehicle does not restart the clock. Each day expires at midnight of the day immediately following, not after a full 24 hours.
Can an e-way bill be cancelled?
Yes, by the person who generated it, within 24 hours of generation, where it is erroneous or the goods are not transported. It cannot be cancelled once the movement has commenced, or where it has already been verified in transit. In that case the position has to be handled through documentation and a fresh e-way bill.
Can Part A be corrected after generation?
No. No field in Part A can be modified once the e-way bill is generated. The only remedy is to cancel within 24 hours and generate a fresh one. Part B, by contrast, can be updated any number of times while the e-way bill is valid.
Can the validity be extended?
Yes, by the transporter, in exceptional circumstances including transshipment. The window is from 8 hours before expiry to 8 hours after expiry. The transporter enters the current place, the remaining distance and Part B details; Part A cannot be changed, and the fresh validity is based on the distance still to travel. Since 1 January 2025, extensions cannot carry an e-way bill beyond 360 days from its original generation.
What happens if the e-way bill has already expired?
If you are still within the eight-hour grace period after expiry, extend it. Beyond that the goods cannot lawfully move on that e-way bill, and a fresh one is required. The Supreme Court has held that a transporter cannot avoid the obligation to generate a fresh e-way bill where goods were not moved within the validity period.
Is Part B always mandatory?
Almost always. Non-furnishing of Part B makes the e-way bill invalid for road movement, under Explanation 2 to Rule 138(3). The only exception is movement within the same State for up to 50 km, from the consignor's place of business to the transporter's premises, or from the transporter's premises to the consignee.
Who generates the e-way bill when goods go to a job worker?
Usually the principal. A registered job worker may generate it for the return movement; if the job worker is unregistered, the principal or the person causing further movement does. Note that for inter-State movement to a job worker, an e-way bill is required irrespective of the consignment value.
What is a consolidated e-way bill?
Where one conveyance carries multiple consignments, each with its own e-way bill, the transporter may generate a consolidated e-way bill in FORM GST EWB-02 listing the individual e-way bill numbers. Only a transporter can generate it, and it has no validity period of its own — each underlying e-way bill continues to govern.
Can an unregistered person generate an e-way bill?
Yes. An unregistered person can enrol through FORM ENR-03 under Registration → Enrolment for URP and receives a 15-digit Enrolment ID. An unregistered transporter enrols as a transporter and receives a 15-digit Transporter ID (TRANSIN). There is also a Citizen Enrolment facility. Where a party has no GSTIN, "URP" is entered in the GSTIN field.
Why can I not generate an e-way bill for a particular GSTIN?
That person is most likely blocked under Rule 138E for not having filed returns for two consecutive tax periods, or FORM GST CMP-08 for two consecutive quarters under the composition scheme. Blocking prevents anyone — including you and the transporter — from furnishing Part A in respect of that person. Filing the outstanding returns usually unblocks it automatically within hours.
What is the penalty if goods move without an e-way bill?
Under Section 129, where the owner comes forward the penalty is 200% of the tax payable; where the owner does not come forward it is 50% of the value of the goods or 200% of the tax, whichever is higher. For exempted goods the figures are 2% and 5% of value, or ₹25,000, whichever is less. Separately, Section 122(1)(xiv) provides a penalty of ₹20,000 in total, or the tax sought to be evaded, whichever is greater.
Is tax payable in addition to the Section 129 penalty?
Not since 1 January 2022. Before the Finance Act, 2021 amendment, Section 129 demanded tax plus a penalty equal to 100% of that tax. It now provides for penalty only, at 200% of the tax, with no separate tax component. Material describing it as "tax and penalty" reflects the pre-2022 position.
Can a penalty be imposed for a spelling mistake or a wrong PIN code?
Not under Section 129. CBIC Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST dated 14 September 2018 directs that where an invoice and an e-way bill both accompany the goods, Section 129 proceedings should not be initiated for six listed minor errors — spelling mistakes with a correct GSTIN, PIN code errors with a correct address, consignee address errors where the locality is correct, one or two digits wrong in the document number, HSN errors at the 4 or 6-digit level with correct first two digits and tax rate, and one or two characters wrong in the vehicle number. The correct charge is a general penalty of ₹1,000 in all per consignment.
Is intention to evade tax necessary for a penalty under Section 129?
The High Courts have consistently held that it is. In Ms. Sangeeta Jain v. Union of India, the Allahabad High Court, following Hindustan Herbal Cosmetics, held that mens rea to evade tax is essential and that a typographical error without further material cannot attract penalty. That said, the principle protects a document that exists and is substantially correct — it has not saved taxpayers where the e-way bill was absent, materially incomplete or expired.
What documents must the driver carry?
The invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan or bill of entry as applicable, together with a copy of the e-way bill. The e-way bill number may be produced in physical form, electronic form, by SMS, as a printout, or written on the invoice.
What can I do if a vehicle is detained for a long time?
Where a vehicle has been intercepted and detained for more than thirty minutes, the transporter may upload the details in FORM GST EWB-04 on the common portal under Grievance → Detention Form. It creates a contemporaneous record of the time and place of detention, which is valuable if the matter is later disputed.
How quickly must detention proceedings be concluded?
The notice specifying the penalty must be issued within 7 days of detention and the order passed within 7 days of that notice — so proceedings should conclude within fourteen days. If the amount is not paid within 15 days of the order, the goods or conveyance may be sold or disposed of to recover it.
Does an e-invoice remove the need for an e-way bill?
No. They serve different purposes. An e-invoice authenticates the invoice and the supply through the Invoice Registration Portal; an e-way bill permits the physical movement of goods. Where both requirements apply, both must be complied with.
What is the 180-day rule?
With effect from 1 January 2025, an e-way bill cannot be generated against a document dated more than 180 days earlier. Businesses that raise invoices well before despatch — project supplies, or goods held pending customer readiness — need to align invoicing with movement, because an aged document simply cannot be used.
What is the E-Way Bill 2.0 portal?
A second portal at ewaybill2.gst.gov.in, launched by GSTN with NIC on 1 July 2025, running in real-time synchronisation with the original portal as a mirrored dual system. If one portal is unavailable, work continues on the other. Generation, extension, transporter updates, Part-A based creation and consolidated e-way bill retrieval all operate across both portals regardless of where the bill was created, and all services are available by API.
Is an e-way bill generated in one State valid in another?
Yes. The e-way bill number generated on the common portal is valid throughout India. There is no separate State-wise e-way bill for a single consignment.
🤝 Facing a Detention Notice, or Want the Process Fixed Before One Arrives?
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