E-Way Bill
AI-assisted · review in progress · last updated 25 July 2026 · jump to quick revision
In 30 seconds
- Statutory basis: Section 68 CGST plus Rules 138 and 138A–138E (Chapter XVI, CGST Rules); Section 20 of the IGST Act extends it all to IGST. Generated on www.ewaybillgst.gov.in — not the common portal.
- Trigger: consignment value above ₹50,000 — for supply, reasons other than supply, or inward supply from an unregistered person. Part A goes in before movement; the e-way bill is born only after Part B.
- Validity is distance-based — 200 km per day for normal cargo, 20 km per day for ODC or multimodal-with-ship-leg — and runs from the first Part-B entry, not from generation.
- Rule 138(14) lists 15 carve-outs where no e-way bill is needed; the famous trap is de-oiled cake — exempt from tax, yet an e-way bill is still required.
- Enforcement runs 138A to 138E: documents to carry, interception, inspection reports in 24 hours/3 days, detention beyond 30 minutes, and supplier-side blocking of the GSTIN.
Based on GST law as on 30.04.2025 (May 2026 exams onwards). Section numbers are CGST Act unless stated.
How the chapter fits together
Memory hook for the whole chapter: “50K PARTS VALID CANCEL BLOCK.” Section 68 is the parent provision — the Government may require the person in charge of a conveyance carrying goods above a specified value to carry prescribed documents and devices. Rules 138 and 138A–138E (Chapter XVI of the CGST Rules) build the entire machinery on it, and Section 20 of the IGST Act applies the whole scheme to IGST too.
- 50K — consignment value > ₹50,000 triggers the e-way bill: for a supply, for reasons other than supply, or for inward supply from an unregistered person.
- PARTS — Part A (invoice/value/HSN, by the person causing movement) + Part B (transport/vehicle details, by the transporter). The EWB is generated only after Part B is entered.
- VALID — distance-based validity: 200 km/day (normal cargo) or 20 km/day (ODC / multimodal with ship leg), starting from the first Part-B entry, not generation.
- CANCEL — within 24 hours; an EWB can never be edited, and cannot be cancelled once verified in transit.
- BLOCK — the enforcement chain: 138A (documents to carry) → 138B (interception/verification) → 138C (inspection, 24 hr/3 day reports) → 138D (detention > 30 min) → 138E (blocking of GSTIN — supplier side only).
Common Portal [Sec 2(26)]
The GST electronic portal notified under Section 146 (www.gst.gov.in). Trap: the e-way bill is not generated there — it is generated on www.ewaybillgst.gov.in in FORM GST EWB-01.
Consignment value
Section 15 value plus tax and cess shown in the document, excluding the value of exempt goods in a mixed invoice. This is the base for the ₹50,000 test.
Who generates, and how — Rule 138
Every e-way bill has two parts. Part A carries the invoice, value and HSN details and is furnished by the person causing the movement (a Part-A slip — a temporary number — can be shared with the transporter for completion later). Part B carries the transport and vehicle details and is furnished by the person transporting the goods. On generation, a unique EBN (e-way bill number) becomes available to the supplier, the recipient and the transporter.
| Rule | Situation | Crux |
|---|---|---|
| 138(1) | Trigger | Consignment value > ₹50,000 → furnish Part A before commencement of movement |
| 138(1) 1st/2nd proviso | Part A by others | Transporter, or e-commerce operator/courier, may furnish Part A on authorization |
| 138(1) 4th proviso | Handicraft goods | Inter-State movement by a registration-exempt person → EWB irrespective of value |
| 138(2) | Registered person generates | Own/hired/public conveyance, by road — self-generation |
| 138(2A) | Rail/air/vessel | Registered person furnishes Part B before or after movement (GR/RR/Airway Bill/Bill of Lading No.) |
| 138(2A) proviso | Railways | Need not carry the EWB but must carry the invoice; EWB produced at delivery — no delivery without EWB |
| 138(3) | Transporter generates | If neither consignor nor consignee does; the registered person gives the transporter the information |
| 138(3) provisos | Optional generation | Registered person/transporter or URP may opt to generate even below ₹50,000; handicraft URP / opting URP gets a unique enrolment number |
| 138(3) 3rd proviso | 50 km exception (1) | No Part B needed for ≤ 50 km, consignor’s place → transporter’s place, within the State |
| Expl. 1 to 138(3) | URP supplies a registered person | Movement deemed caused by the recipient, if the recipient is known |
| Expl. 2 to 138(3) | Part B mandatory | EWB is valid for road movement only if Part B is furnished |
| 138(4) | EBN | Unique number made available to supplier, recipient and transporter |
| 138(5) | Conveyance transfer | Update Part B before transfer/further movement; proviso: no Part B for ≤ 50 km transporter’s place → consignee’s place, within the State |
| 138(5A) | Assignment | Consignor/recipient/transporter may assign the EWB number to another transporter — barred once that transporter updates Part B |
| 138(6) | Consolidated EWB | Transporter may generate FORM GST EWB-02 prior to movement — always optional |
| 138(7) | Transporter’s mandatory generation | Aggregate value > ₹50,000, inter-State, consignor/consignee failed → transporter generates EWB-01 (the e-comm/courier proviso is not yet effective) |
| 138(8) | GSTR-1 linkage | Part A information is made available to the supplier for GSTR-1 (auto-population) |
Two composite situations to lock in:
- Bill To Ship To: A orders, B sends, C receives — 3 parties, 2 tax invoices, but only 1 e-way bill (either A or B generates it). Part A is auto-populated from the e-invoice where an IRN (Invoice Reference Number, embedded in the QR code) exists.
- Multiple invoices in one vehicle: one EWB per invoice is mandatory — multiple invoices can never ride on a single EWB. The Consolidated EWB (FORM GST EWB-02, informally the “trip sheet”) can bundle them afterwards for one conveyance, but it has no independent validity — each underlying EWB keeps its own.
TRANSIN
The 15-digit Unique Transporter Id issued to an unregistered transporter. Format mirrors a GSTIN: State code + PAN + checksum.
When no e-way bill is needed — Rule 138(14)
Rule 138(14) gives 15 carve-outs — a goods list of 8 under clause (a), plus 14 situational clauses (b)–(o). Where no EWB is required, Rule 55A still requires the tax invoice or bill of supply to accompany the goods.
| Clause | No e-way bill required |
|---|---|
| (a)-1 | LPG for household and NDEC customers |
| (a)-2 | Kerosene under PDS |
| (a)-3 | Postal baggage (Department of Posts) |
| (a)-4 | Pearls, precious/semi-precious stones, precious metals (Ch. 71) |
| (a)-5 | Jewellery, goldsmiths’/silversmiths’ wares (Ch. 71) — except imitation jewellery (7117) |
| (a)-6 | Currency |
| (a)-7 | Used personal & household effects |
| (a)-8 | Coral — unworked (0508) and worked (9601) |
| (b) | Non-motorised conveyance |
| (c) | Customs port/airport/air cargo complex/land customs station → ICD/CFS, for Customs clearance |
| (d) | Movement within areas notified under State/UT GST Rules 138(14)(d) |
| (e) | Goods exempt from tax [Notfn 2/2017 CT(R)] — except de-oiled cake, which needs an EWB despite exemption |
| (f) | Alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, HSD, motor spirit (petrol), natural gas, ATF |
| (g) | Supplies treated as “no supply” under Schedule III |
| (h) | Under customs bond (ICD/CFS → port etc.) or under customs supervision/seal |
| (i) | Transit cargo to/from Nepal or Bhutan |
| (j) | Exempt under Notfn 7/2017 CT(R) [CSD ↔ URC] and Notfn 26/2017 CT(R) [heavy water/nuclear fuel, DAE → NPCIL] |
| (k) | Movement by a defence formation (Ministry of Defence) as consignor or consignee |
| (l) | Consignor is Central/State Government or a local authority, transport by rail |
| (m) | Empty cargo containers |
| (n) | Up to 20 km, consignor’s place ↔ weighbridge for weighment, with a delivery challan (Rule 55) |
| (o) | Empty LPG cylinders moved for reasons other than supply |
Validity, timelines and cancellation
Relevant date [Rule 138(10)]
The date of generation of the e-way bill; each day ends at midnight of the following day. But the validity clock actually starts from the first Part-B entry (vehicle number for road, transport document number for rail/air/ship) — not the generation time — and is not recalculated on later Part-B updates.
ODC (Over Dimensional Cargo)
A single indivisible cargo exceeding the dimension limits of the CMV Rules, 1989. ODC — like multimodal transport with a ship leg — triggers the slower 20 km/day validity slab.
| Sl. No. | Distance | Validity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to 200 km | 1 day (normal cargo) |
| 2 | Every 200 km or part thereafter | +1 day (normal cargo) |
| 3 | Up to 20 km | 1 day (ODC / multimodal with ship leg) |
| 4 | Every 20 km or part thereafter | +1 day (ODC / multimodal with ship leg) |
“Part thereof” always rounds up to a full extra day.
Normal cargo must travel 500 km by road. What is the e-way bill's validity?
Split the distance into 200 km slabs: 200 + 200 + 100. The final 100 km is a “part thereof”, so it earns a full day — 3 days in all, counted from the first Part-B entry, with each day ending at midnight of the following day.
Answer: 3 days — 200 + 200 + 100 (the 100 km part thereof rounds up to a full day).
Extension of validity is generally not allowed. Only two exceptions: (i) the Commissioner, by notification, for certain categories of goods; (ii) the transporter, in exceptional circumstances (natural calamity, law and order, transshipment, accident) — within 8 hours of expiry, after updating Part B.
All the clocks in one place:
| Clock | Limit | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Part A | Before commencement of movement | 138(1) |
| Cancellation | Within 24 hours of generation; barred once verified in transit — and an EWB can never be edited | 138(9) |
| EBN validity for updating Part B | 15 days | 138(9) 2nd proviso |
| Deemed acceptance | No response within 72 hours or time of delivery, whichever is earlier | 138(11)/(12) |
| Validity extension by transporter | Within 8 hours of expiry, exceptional circumstances only | 138(10) |
| Inspection — summary report (Part A) | Within 24 hours, counted from midnight of the interception date | 138C |
| Inspection — final report (Part B) | Within 3 days (+3 days’ extension on sufficient cause) | 138C |
| Detention upload trigger | More than 30 minutes | 138D |
| 138E blocking default | Composition: 2 consecutive quarters; regular: 2 tax periods / GSTR-1 not filed for 2 months/quarters | 138E |
An e-way bill generated in one State is valid in every State and Union Territory [Rule 138(13)] — pan-India validity. Acceptance/rejection details go to whichever of supplier/recipient did not furnish Part A [Rule 138(11)].
Enforcement — Rules 138A to 138E
- 138A — documents to carry: the person in charge of the conveyance carries the invoice/challan plus the EWB copy, EWB number, or RFID mapping. Where an e-invoice exists, the IRN in the QR code may be produced in lieu of the physical tax invoice. The Commissioner may notify a class of transporters to get an RFID device embedded on the conveyance and mapped to the EWB.
- 138B — verification: the proper officer may intercept any conveyance to verify the EWB — inter-State and intra-State; RFID readers may be installed for en-route verification.
- 138C — inspection: summary report (Part A) within 24 hours; final report (Part B) within 3 days (extendable by 3 days on sufficient cause) — both counted from midnight of the interception date.
- 138D — detention: vehicle detained for more than 30 minutes → the transporter may upload the information.
- 138E — blocking: no Part A can be furnished for outward movement of a defaulting supplier’s GSTIN — supplier side only; the same GSTIN can still generate EWBs as recipient or transporter.
Rule 138E triggers on return-filing default: composition taxpayer not filing for 2 consecutive quarters; regular taxpayer not filing for 2 tax periods, or GSTR-1 not filed for 2 months/quarters; or registration suspended. The Commissioner may permit generation on application — with reasons recorded, and a hearing before any rejection.
Note: this chapter prescribes no penalty amounts. Verification, inspection and detention under 138B–138D are procedural, and 138E blocking is a compliance consequence, not a monetary penalty; penalty provisions (e.g. Sections 129/130) are covered elsewhere in the Act, not in this chapter.
- Generating the e-way bill on the common portal — it lives on www.ewaybillgst.gov.in, not www.gst.gov.in [Sec 2(26) trap].
- Mixing up Rule 138(2) and 138(2A) — 138(2) is road self-generation by the registered person; 138(2A) is rail/air/vessel, where Part B may come before or after movement.
- Trying to edit an EWB — editing is impossible; the only route is cancellation within 24 hours (barred once verified in transit) plus fresh generation.
- Giving the Consolidated EWB (EWB-02) its own validity — it has none; each underlying EWB keeps its own. And 138(6) CEWB generation is always optional, while 138(7) EWB-01 generation by the transporter is mandatory (aggregate > ₹50,000, inter-State, consignor/consignee failed).
- Assuming every exempt good escapes the EWB — de-oiled cake is carved out of 138(14)(e): an EWB IS required despite the tax exemption.
- Merging the two 50 km exceptions — 138(3) 3rd proviso covers consignor’s place → transporter’s place; 138(5) proviso covers transporter’s place → consignee’s place (both intra-State, no Part B needed).
- Treating 138E blocking as total — it blocks the defaulter as supplier only; the same GSTIN still works as recipient or transporter.
- Swapping the 72-hour and 24-hour clocks — 72 hours (or delivery, if earlier) is deemed acceptance [138(12)]; 24 hours is cancellation [138(9)].
Quick revision cards
EWB threshold and its base?
Handicraft exception?
Validity slabs?
How many Rule 138(14) carve-outs?
Consolidated EWB in one line?
Can an e-way bill be edited?
Multiple invoices, one vehicle?
Rule 138E blocking hits whom?
Deemed acceptance timeline?
Railways and the EWB?
Extension of EWB validity?
Bill To Ship To?