The E-Way Bill under GST is a digital document you must generate on the government portal before moving goods worth more than ₹50,000. It carries a unique 12-digit number and a QR code, and the driver has to keep either a printout or a digital copy through the entire journey. Tax officers use it to track cargo in real time, and moving goods without one — or with a bill that has expired or contains major errors — can lead to the goods and the vehicle being detained, with penalties reaching 200% of the tax payable.
When You Need to Generate an E-Way Bill
The trigger is a registered person moving a consignment valued above ₹50,000, whether the movement is a sale, a stock transfer between your own warehouses, an export, or a return to a supplier.1Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CGST Rules – Rule 138 When goods come from an unregistered supplier, the registered recipient generates the bill.
Interstate movements always follow the ₹50,000 national threshold. Intrastate movements are trickier because states can set their own limits within their borders. Most stick with ₹50,000, but a few have raised the bar for certain categories or short-distance movements. Check your state’s notifications before assuming the national threshold covers a local shipment.
One important exception cuts the other way: goods sent to a job worker need an E-Way Bill regardless of value. A consignment worth ₹5,000 going to a job worker still needs the document. Small manufacturers get caught by this often.
You also cannot club multiple invoices into a single bill even when they travel in the same truck to the same buyer. Each invoice needs its own E-Way Bill. Five invoices of ₹20,000 each to one consignee need no bill at all, since none crosses ₹50,000. But if any single invoice exceeds the threshold, that invoice needs a bill.
Blocking for Non-Filers
The portal automatically blocks E-Way Bill generation for taxpayers who have not filed their GSTR-3B returns for two consecutive months or quarters.2E-Way Bill System. Blocking/Unblocking of E-Way Bills Generation FAQ The block is broader than most people expect. Once your GSTIN is blocked, no one can generate an E-Way Bill naming you as either consignor or consignee. Your suppliers cannot ship to you, and transporters cannot update your transporter ID. Filing the overdue returns lifts the block automatically.
When You Do Not Need One
Several categories fall outside the requirement no matter how valuable the consignment. Fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, unbranded natural honey, common salt, and other items listed in the Annexure to the E-Way Rules are fully exempt.3E-Way Bill System. E-Way Bill Rules Personal and household effects do not trigger the rule because they are not commercial supplies. Currency, passenger baggage, firewood, kerosene sold under PDS, and LPG supplied to household customers are specifically listed exemptions.
A few situational exemptions apply too. When goods travel less than 20 kilometres from your place of business to a weighbridge and back within the same state, no bill is required as long as a delivery challan accompanies the shipment.4E-Way Bill System. E-Way Bill System FAQ Movements to or from the Ministry of Defence and certain customs-controlled areas like inland container depots are also outside the requirement, as are non-motorised conveyances such as animal-drawn carts.
A common misconception: this is not a blanket pass for petroleum products or alcohol. Only the specific items listed in the Annexure (like PDS kerosene and household LPG) are exempt. Other petroleum products and alcoholic beverages for human consumption sit outside GST entirely and follow separate state-level transport rules.
How to Generate the Bill on the Portal
Generation happens on the official portal at ewaybillgst.gov.in. You log in with your GST credentials, fill Form GST EWB-01, and the system validates your entries and issues a unique 12-digit E-Way Bill Number along with a downloadable document carrying a QR code.5E-Way Bill System. E-Way Bill System User Manual for Tax Payers
The form has two parts, and understanding the split matters because you do not always fill them together.6E-Way Bill System. Form GST EWB-01
Part A: Consignment Details
Part A captures the transaction. You enter the recipient’s GSTIN, the place of delivery, the invoice or challan number, the invoice date, and the taxable value. You also select the reason for transportation from a dropdown — options include supply, export, and job work.
The HSN code goes in Part A. If your aggregate annual turnover is ₹5 crores or less, a four-digit HSN code is enough. Above that, six digits are required. Getting the HSN wrong does not always result in a full penalty; if the first two digits are correct and the tax rate is accurate, officers may treat it as a minor error. It can still trigger a stop and cost you time.
Part B: Transport Details
Part B links the consignment to a specific vehicle or transport document. For road transport, you enter the vehicle registration number. For rail, air, or ship, you provide the transport document number.7E-Way Bill System. Update Part B – Vehicle Number Update
You can fill Part A first, receive an E-Way Bill number, and update Part B later once the transporter assigns a truck. But the validity clock starts from the moment Part B is first populated, not from Part A submission. For rail, air, or ship, Part B can be updated even after the goods start moving.
Cancellation and Acceptance
If you generate a bill by mistake or the goods do not move, you have 24 hours to cancel it on the portal.4E-Way Bill System. E-Way Bill System FAQ Once an officer has verified the bill during an inspection, cancellation is no longer possible. On the receiving side, the consignee has 72 hours to accept or reject the details of any E-Way Bill mapped to their GSTIN. Silence past that window is treated as acceptance.3E-Way Bill System. E-Way Bill Rules
Consolidated Bills
When a transporter carries goods covered by several individual E-Way Bills in one vehicle, they can generate a consolidated E-Way Bill using Form GST EWB-02.8E-Way Bill System. Generating Consolidated E-Way Bill The driver then carries one master document instead of a stack of separate printouts. You still need a valid individual bill for every consignment; the consolidated bill groups them for convenience.
How Long the Bill Stays Valid
Validity depends on distance and cargo type.1Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CGST Rules – Rule 138 For regular cargo, you get one day for the first 200 kilometres and one additional day for every 200 kilometres (or part thereof) after that. For over-dimensional cargo and multimodal shipments involving a sea leg, the ratio tightens: one day per 20 kilometres.
Each “day” runs from the time of generation until midnight of the following day. A bill generated at 3:00 PM on June 1 is valid until 11:59 PM on June 2.
Carrying goods on an expired bill is treated the same as having no bill at all. Full detention penalties apply. If you are running late, the portal allows an extension, but only within eight hours of the expiry time. You provide the reason for the delay, your current location, the remaining distance, and updated Part B details. The system recalculates validity based on distance still to cover.
Multi-Modal Movement
A single E-Way Bill can cover goods moving through road, rail, air, and ship segments in sequence. As the mode changes, the transporter updates Part B with the new vehicle number or transport document number. Validity does not reset with each mode change; it runs continuously from the original Part B entry. One quirk worth knowing: railways will not release goods at the destination unless the consignee produces the E-Way Bill.
Vehicle Changes and Breakdowns
Vehicles break down, routes change, and consignments get transferred between trucks. The person who generated the bill (or the assigned transporter) can update the vehicle number on the portal at any time while the bill is still active. If a vehicle breaks down mid-transit, the transporter can either repair the vehicle and continue on the same bill, or transfer the goods to a different vehicle and update Part B. Either way, the journey must finish inside the original validity window; if it will not, the transporter has to extend the bill with details of the breakdown, current location, and remaining distance. Part A details cannot be changed during this process.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Penalties come in three tiers, and the differences between them matter.
Detention Under Section 129
When goods are found moving without a valid E-Way Bill, or with a bill carrying major discrepancies, both the goods and the vehicle can be seized. Release requires paying a penalty of 200% of the tax payable on the goods.9Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CGST Act Section 129 – Detention, Seizure and Release of Goods and Conveyances in Transit If the owner does not come forward, the penalty climbs to 50% of the goods’ value or 200% of the tax, whichever is higher. For exempt goods, the penalty is 2% of the goods’ value or ₹25,000, whichever is less (5% if the owner does not come forward).
If the penalty is not paid within 15 days, the goods and vehicle can be sold to recover it. The vehicle can be released separately on payment of the penalty or ₹1 lakh, whichever is less. That provision keeps transporters from having their trucks held hostage over someone else’s tax dispute.
Section 122 Penalty
Separately from detention, a taxable person who transports goods without the required documents faces a penalty of ₹10,000 or an amount equal to the tax evaded, whichever is higher.10Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CGST Act Section 122 – Penalty for Certain Offences In practice, the Section 129 detention penalty is the one that stings most because it has to be paid upfront before goods are released. The Section 122 penalty usually comes up separately in adjudication.
Reduced Penalty for Minor Errors
Not every mistake triggers full detention. A CBIC circular clarifies that when goods travel with both an invoice and an E-Way Bill but the bill has minor clerical errors, the penalty drops to ₹500 under the CGST Act plus ₹500 under the state GST Act, or ₹1,000 under the IGST Act for interstate movement.11Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Circular No. 64/38/2018-GST The errors that qualify are specifically defined:
- Spelling mistakes in consignor or consignee names when the GSTIN is correct
- A wrong pin code when the address is otherwise accurate and the error does not inflate the validity period
- Address errors where the locality and other details are correct
- One or two wrong digits in the invoice or document number
- HSN code errors at the four- or six-digit level when the first two digits and the tax rate are correct
- One or two wrong characters in the vehicle number
This is worth knowing because it gives you grounds to push back if an officer tries to impose a full Section 129 penalty over a typo. Keep a copy of the circular with your vehicle documentation.
Roadside Inspections
Enforcement officers can stop any vehicle and verify its E-Way Bill during transit. When goods are intercepted, the officer must upload a summary inspection report (Part A of Form GST EWB-03) within 24 hours and a final report (Part B) within three days of the stop.12Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CGST Rules – Rule 138C The Commissioner can extend the final report deadline by up to three additional days. Both counts start at midnight of the interception date.
These timelines cap how long your goods can sit in limbo after a stop. If the officer misses the reporting deadlines, that procedural lapse can strengthen your position in any subsequent dispute.