Every other GST obligation is discharged at a desk. The e-way bill is different, because it is checked on the road, by an officer with the power to stop the vehicle and hold the goods.
That changes the risk. A mistake in a return is corrected in the next return. A mistake in an e-way bill leaves a truck standing at a checkpost with a customer waiting, and the cost of that is rarely the penalty.
When one is required
An e-way bill is needed for movement of goods where the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000, in relation to a supply, for reasons other than supply such as a branch transfer or goods sent for job work, or for an inward supply from an unregistered person.
Three points on the threshold.
Consignment value means invoice value including GST, but excluding the value of any exempt goods where the invoice covers both exempt and taxable goods.
The test is per consignment, not per invoice. Several invoices moving in one vehicle are one consignment for the threshold, which is why splitting an order into smaller invoices does not avoid the requirement.
States can and do impose lower thresholds for movement within the state. The ₹50,000 figure is the position under the central rules. Intra-state limits vary, and a business operating across several states cannot assume one number applies everywhere. Check the state.
Some movements need an e-way bill regardless of value, including inter-state movement of goods for job work and inter-state movement of handicraft goods by a person exempt from registration.
When one is not required
The exemptions are worth knowing because generating unnecessary e-way bills creates its own reconciliation burden.
No e-way bill is needed where goods move by non-motorised conveyance, where they move from a port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station to an inland container depot or container freight station for customs clearance, or for goods listed in the annexure to Rule 138 which includes a range of exempt and specified items. Movement within a notified area of a state, and certain movements under customs supervision, are also outside it.
Part A and Part B, and the gap between them
FORM GST EWB-01 has two parts, and understanding the split explains most operational problems.
Part A carries the consignment details: GSTINs, place of dispatch and delivery, document number and date, HSN, value and tax. It can be filled as soon as the invoice exists.
Part B carries the transport details: vehicle number, or transporter document number for rail, air or ship.
The e-way bill is not valid without Part B, and the validity clock does not start until Part B is entered. Part A alone generates a number, but it does not authorise movement.
This is the single most common operational error. A dispatch team fills Part A at the time of invoicing, the vehicle is arranged later, and Part B is never completed because the number already exists and looks like a finished document. The truck moves on an incomplete e-way bill.
The one exception is where goods move up to 50 kilometres within the same state between the consignor and a transporter, where Part B may be left unfilled for that leg.
Validity, and the clock that is stricter than it looks
Validity under Rule 138(10) runs from the time Part B is entered:
| Cargo | Validity |
|---|---|
| Regular | One day for every 200 km or part thereof |
| Over dimensional cargo | One day for every 20 km or part thereof |
A day here means a period of twenty-four hours from the relevant time. The distance is the approximate distance the goods are transported.
The practical difficulty is that the clock does not care why a vehicle is stationary. A breakdown, a strike, a driver’s rest, a delay at a weighbridge, all consume validity. Where a consignment cannot complete its journey in time, the transporter may extend the validity within the window the portal allows, which is a short period on either side of expiry. Missing that window means the e-way bill has expired, and moving goods on an expired e-way bill is treated much like moving them without one.
For any route where delays are routine, build the extension into the transporter’s instructions rather than treating it as an exception.
What must be in the vehicle
Rule 138A requires the person in charge to carry the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan, and a copy of the e-way bill or its number, which may be held electronically or mapped to a radio frequency identification device where notified.
Where an invoice has been e-invoiced, the QR code with the embedded IRN is sufficient in place of a physical invoice copy. In practice, carrying the printout as well costs nothing and removes an argument.
Section 129, and why it is not an ordinary penalty
If goods are moved in contravention, Section 129 allows the officer to detain or seize both the goods and the conveyance. Release is on payment of the penalty prescribed in that section, and the amount differs depending on whether the owner comes forward.
Two features make this more serious than the amount alone suggests.
It is a standalone proceeding. Section 129 operates independently of the tax on the supply. The tax is still due through the ordinary return, and the penalty for the transit contravention is on top.
Detention costs more than the penalty. A vehicle held for two days with perishable goods, a customer’s production line stopped, demurrage on a container, a missed export vessel. Those are the real numbers, and none of them appear in the section.
Where the contravention is genuinely technical, a clerical error in the vehicle number, a document that was generated but not carried, the position is better, and there is a body of decisions distinguishing technical breaches from evasion. But that argument is made after the vehicle has been stopped, and by then the delay has already happened.
Controls that hold up
Generate Part A and Part B together. Do not allow a dispatch to leave with Part A only. If the vehicle is unknown at invoicing, the e-way bill is not finished, and the system should say so.
Alert on validity before expiry, not after. A daily report of e-way bills expiring in the next twelve hours, with the transporter’s contact against each, prevents almost every expiry.
Reconcile e-way bills against invoices, both ways. Invoices above the threshold with no e-way bill are the obvious exposure. E-way bills with no matching invoice are the less obvious one, and they attract attention during scrutiny because the department has both datasets and compares them.
Cancel within 24 hours where a dispatch does not happen. An e-way bill that was generated and never used, and never cancelled, is an unexplained movement in the department’s data.
Use the e-invoice link. Where a document is e-invoiced, generating the e-way bill from the same upload removes a re-keying step and guarantees the two documents agree.
Brief the drivers. The person who deals with the officer is the driver. Knowing which papers he holds and who to call is worth more than any policy document.
The summary
Required above ₹50,000 consignment value, subject to lower state limits for intra-state movement. Part A alone is not an e-way bill. Validity runs from Part B at one day per 200 km, or per 20 km for over dimensional cargo, and extension has to happen inside a short window around expiry. Section 129 detention is a separate proceeding from the tax, and the delay costs more than the penalty. The two controls that prevent nearly all of it are refusing to dispatch on an incomplete Part B and alerting on validity before it runs out.
