E-Way Bills: When One Is Needed

Most questions about e-way bills are really one question: does this movement need one? The answer turns on four things. The first is who causes the goods to move. The second is the value of the consignment, worked out in a particular way. The third is whether the movement crosses a State border. The fourth is whether the goods, the route or the conveyance fall within an exemption.

A consignment worth Rs 40,000 can need an e-way bill, for instance where it goes to a job worker in another State. One worth Rs 80,000 can need none, for instance where it is LPG for household customers. A truck carrying several small invoices raises a further question that the rules and the courts answer differently. This guide takes each test in turn. Generating, Extending and Cancelling an E-Way Bill covers how a bill is made once it is needed.

Where the duty comes from

Section 68(1) allows the Government to require “the person in charge of a conveyance carrying any consignment of goods of value exceeding such amount as may be specified” to carry prescribed documents and devices. The e-way bill is the document prescribed by rule 138 of the CGST Rules. The goods also travel with the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan under rule 138A(1). The e-way bill itself may be carried on paper, as a number “in electronic form”, or mapped to an RFID device.

Rule 138, in its present form, was substituted by Notification No. 12/2018-Central Tax. Notification No. 15/2018-Central Tax brought it into force from 1 April 2018, with one exception discussed below. Each State has its own rule 138 under its SGST Rules, and those State rules govern movement within the State. Under rule 138(13), an e-way bill generated under the CGST Rules or any State’s rules “shall be valid in every State and Union territory”.

On 8 October 2026 the GST Council recommended amending sections 68, 129 and 130 to confine interception to cases of specific intelligence. These amendments are recommended, not yet enacted. Goods in Transit: Inspection, Detention and Release covers the interception regime.

Test 1: movements that count

Rule 138(1) applies to “every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding fifty thousand rupees”:

• "(i) in relation to a supply; or
• (ii) for reasons other than supply; or
• (iii) due to inward supply from an unregistered person".

The rule is about movement, not sale. Stock transfers between branches, goods sent for job work, sales returns, goods taken to an exhibition and goods taken out for line sales are all covered. So are purchases from an unregistered supplier. The e-way bill portal’s own drop-down menus list these as sub-types: supply, export, job work, SKD/CKD/lots, recipient not known, for own use, exhibition or fairs, line sales, sales return and others.

Circular No. 47/21/2018-GST (8 June 2018) confirms that the test is the movement, not the nature of the supply. Goods moving from one place in a State to another place in the same State, but passing through a second State, need an e-way bill. Under the same circular, movement between a DTA unit and an SEZ unit in the same State needs none only where the State has exempted it under rule 138(14)(d).

Services. GSTN’s advisory of 16 September 2021 states that where the principal supply is “purely a supply of service and involving no movement of goods, the e-way bill is not required”. Where goods move as part of a service, such as printing, works contracts or catering, an e-way bill may be generated with the HSN of the goods and the SAC of the service. The portal refuses a bill that carries only service codes.

Who causes the movement. Usually this is the supplier. Under Explanation 1 to rule 138(3), where an unregistered supplier sells to a registered recipient, “the movement shall be said to be caused by such recipient if the recipient is known at the time of commencement of the movement of goods”. The duty to generate then falls on the registered buyer. E-Way Bills in Special Cases covers transporters, e-commerce operators and couriers, who may generate on another’s behalf.

Test 2: the Rs 50,000 consignment value, and how it is worked out

Explanation 2 to rule 138(1) defines consignment value as:

the value, determined in accordance with the provisions of section 15, declared in an invoice, a bill of supply or a delivery challan, as the case may be, issued in respect of the said consignment and also includes the central tax, State or Union territory tax, integrated tax and cess charged, if any, in the document and shall exclude the value of exempt supply of goods where the invoice is issued in respect of both exempt and taxable supply of goods.

Four points follow.

1. Tax is included. Goods with a taxable value of Rs 44,000 at 18 per cent IGST (Rs 7,920) have a consignment value of Rs 51,920 and need an e-way bill.
2. Exempt goods on a mixed invoice are left out. An invoice for Rs 30,000 of exempt goods and Rs 35,000 of taxable goods (with tax) has a consignment value of Rs 35,000 only.
3. Freight charged by the transporter is not part of it. The portal’s FAQ says consignment value “will also not include value of freight charges for the movement charged by transporter”. Where an invoice covers goods and services together, the portal’s earlier FAQ document says consignment value and HSN are determined “for goods only”.
4. Section 15 governs. The value is the transaction value under section 15, as Value of Supply explains. For a delivery challan, it is the value the challan must state under rule 55(1)(vi).

That last point was tested in Gopal Nondy v. Assistant Commissioner of State Tax (Calcutta High Court, 13 June 2024). A job worker was returning railway components worth about Rs 5.9 lakh to its principal in Jamshedpur. It generated no e-way bill, arguing that the value of its own job-work supply was below Rs 50,000. The goods were detained and penalty was levied under section 129. The court held that Explanation 2 ties consignment value to section 15. Neither the proper officer nor the appellate authority had considered whether the transaction value could be determined under section 15(1). The court set aside the appellate order and remanded the matter for that question to be decided on disclosure of the job-work contract. It did not decide which value was correct.

Several invoices in one vehicle

Each e-way bill is generated against one document. The portal’s FAQ says “multiple invoices cannot be clubbed to generate one EWB”, though a transporter may group several bills into a consolidated e-way bill. The harder question is whether invoices that are each below Rs 50,000 must be added together when they travel in the same vehicle.

Rule 138(7) would require the transporter to generate a bill for inter-State movement where “the aggregate of the consignment value of goods carried in the conveyance is more than fifty thousand rupees”. But Notification No. 15/2018-Central Tax brought rule 138 into force “other than clause (7)”. No later notification bringing it into force appears on the CBIC list of Central Tax notifications. The e-way bill portal’s FAQ still says that, until sub-rule (7) is notified, the “transporter needs not generate e-way bill for consignments having value less than Rs 50,000/-, even if the value of the goods carried in single conveyance is more than Rs. 50,000/-”.

The Kerala High Court took a different route in Bon Cargos Pvt Ltd v. Assistant State Tax Officer (Division Bench, 21 December 2020). In each of two appeals, one consignor had raised two invoices to one consignee, each below Rs 50,000. The goods travelled together within Kerala, and the transport agency had not completed the e-way bills. The Bench reasoned from rule 138(1) itself, not sub-rule (7). It held:

When goods of the same consignor covered by different invoices are consigned together in one vehicle; the value will be the total of that in the multiple invoices.

Otherwise, the court said, consignors could issue “any number of bills having value below Rs.50,000/-” and send them in one vehicle. The Bench therefore found no lack of jurisdiction in the detention. Earlier in the same year, a single judge of the same court (WP© 1918 of 2020, 4 February 2020) had found that the FAQ “would really deserve serious consideration”. He left the point to the adjudicating officer.

So the position is unsettled. The FAQ and the unnotified sub-rule (7) point one way. A Division Bench of one High Court, reading sub-rule (1), points the other where one consignor’s invoices to one consignee travel together. This guide found no Supreme Court decision on the point.

Test 3: inter-State and intra-State movement, and the State thresholds

The Rs 50,000 figure in the CGST rule governs inter-State movement. For movement that starts and ends in one State, the State’s own rule 138 applies. Clause (d) of rule 138(14) lets each State exempt movement “within such areas as are notified” under its own rules. States have used that power, and their own rule-making power, to set higher intra-State limits or to exempt particular goods or areas.

West Bengal is an example. Notification No. 13/2018-C.T./GST (6 June 2018), issued under rule 138(14)(d) of the West Bengal GST Rules, required an e-way bill for movement “originating and terminating within the State of West Bengal (intra-State movement but without passing through any other State)” only “where the consignment value exceeds Rs.1,00,000/-”. The portal’s FAQ makes the general point: for the intra-State threshold, “refer to the relevant statute/provisions passed by the respective States/Union Territories”. The portal’s notification search lists each State’s notifications.

The intra-State figure is therefore always a question of the particular State’s notification as amended. A figure from one State cannot be assumed for another.

Gold and jewellery. Goods in Chapter 71, other than imitation jewellery (7117), are in the Annexure to rule 138(14), so they need no e-way bill under rule 138. Rule 138F, inserted by Notification No. 38/2023-Central Tax, lets a State require an e-way bill for intra-State movement of these goods above a threshold it notifies, “not below rupees two lakhs”. GSTN’s advisories of 27 January 2025 and 6 February 2025 record that Kerala has done so (Kerala Notification No. 10/24-State Tax). Outside such a State notification, GSTN says generation for Chapter 71 goods “is not required”. The portal’s general facility for those goods has been withdrawn.

Test 4: the exemptions in rule 138(14) and the Annexure

Rule 138(14) says that “no e-way bill is required to be generated” in fifteen cases:

Clause	Case
(a)	goods specified in the Annexure (below)
(b)	goods transported by a non-motorised conveyance
©	goods moving from a customs port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station to an ICD or CFS for customs clearance
(d)	movement within areas notified under the State’s rule 138(14)(d)
(e)	goods in the Schedule to Notification No. 2/2017-Central Tax (Rate) (the nil-rated goods list), other than de-oiled cake
(f)	alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, motor spirit, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel
(g)	supplies treated as no supply under Schedule III
(h)	goods under customs bond between an ICD or CFS and a port or customs station, or between customs stations, or under customs supervision or seal
(i)	transit cargo to or from Nepal or Bhutan
(j)	goods exempt under Notification No. 7/2017-Central Tax (Rate) and No. 26/2017-Central Tax (Rate) (supplies by and to CSD and unit-run canteens)
(k)	movement caused by a defence formation as consignor or consignee
(l)	goods sent by rail where the consignor is the Central or a State Government or a local authority
(m)	empty cargo containers
(n)	goods moving up to 20 km from the consignor’s place of business to a weighbridge and back, with a rule 55 delivery challan
(o)	empty LPG cylinders moved for reasons other than supply (inserted by Notification No. 26/2018-Central Tax)

The Annexure lists eight items:

1. LPG for supply to household and non-domestic exempted category (NDEC) customers
2. kerosene oil sold under PDS
3. postal baggage transported by the Department of Posts
4. natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals and metals clad with precious metal (Chapter 71)
5. jewellery, goldsmiths’ and silversmiths’ wares and other articles (Chapter 71), “excepting Imitation Jewellery (7117)” (a carve-out inserted by Notification No. 26/2022-Central Tax)
6. currency
7. used personal and household effects
8. coral, unworked (0508) and worked (9601)

An exemption removes only the duty to generate the e-way bill. Under rule 138A(1)(a), the goods must still travel with the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan.

Movements needed regardless of value

Two provisos to rule 138(1) override the Rs 50,000 threshold.

• Inter-State job work. The third proviso requires an e-way bill where goods are sent by a principal in one State or Union territory to a job worker in another, “irrespective of the value of the consignment”. It is generated by the principal or by the job worker if registered.
• Inter-State handicrafts. The fourth proviso requires a person exempted from registration for inter-State handicraft supplies to generate an e-way bill “irrespective of the value of the consignment”.

Both are covered in E-Way Bills in Special Cases. The third proviso to rule 138(3) also allows the registered person or the transporter to generate an e-way bill voluntarily for a smaller consignment.

Part B within 50 kilometres

An e-way bill has two parts. Part A carries the document, goods and parties. Part B carries the vehicle number, or the transport document for rail, air or ship. By Explanation 2 to rule 138(3), an e-way bill “shall not be valid for movement of goods by road” until Part B is filled. There are two exceptions, each for 50 km within a State:

• First leg. Under the third proviso to rule 138(3), goods moving “up to fifty kilometers within the State or Union territory from the place of business of the consignor to the place of business of the transporter for further transportation” need no conveyance details in Part B.
• Last leg. Under the proviso to rule 138(5), goods moving up to fifty kilometres within the State “from the place of business of the transporter finally to the place of business of the consignee” need not have the conveyance updated.

The figure in the rule is fifty kilometres. The portal’s FAQ describes the same exemption in the same terms. It applies only to these two legs within one State, and only to Part B. Part A must still be generated.

What to have ready before deciding

• The document for the movement: the tax invoice, bill of supply, delivery challan, or bill of entry for imports. This comes from the books.
• The consignment value under Explanation 2: taxable value plus tax and cess on the document, less exempt goods on a mixed invoice.
• The HSN of the goods, to check against rule 138(14), the Annexure and the rate notifications.
• The origin and destination PIN codes and the route, to show whether the movement is inter-State, passes through another State, or stays within one State.
• For intra-State movement, the State’s current notification under its rule 138, and any area exemption under rule 138(14)(d).
• The registration status of the counterparty, which decides who causes the movement.
• Whether the movement is job work or handicrafts across a State border, which removes the threshold.

Getting it wrong, and putting it right

Goods that move without an e-way bill when one is required are moving “in contravention of the provisions of this Act or the rules”. That exposes the goods and the conveyance to detention under section 129. Section 122(1)(xiv) separately provides a penalty for a taxable person who “transports any taxable goods without the cover of documents as may be specified”. Goods in Transit: Inspection, Detention and Release explains the process, the penalty, and the relief CBIC gives for minor errors.

Little can be done after goods have left. Where it is doubtful whether a bill is needed, the third proviso to rule 138(3) allows one to be generated anyway. A bill generated in error can be cancelled within twenty-four hours, as the next guide explains.

The procedure in summary

1. Identify who causes the movement: the supplier, or a registered recipient buying from an unregistered person.
2. Classify the movement: supply, other than supply, or inward supply from an unregistered person.
3. Work out the consignment value under Explanation 2 to rule 138(1): section 15 value, plus tax and cess on the document, less exempt goods on a mixed invoice.
4. For inter-State movement (including movement through another State), apply Rs 50,000. For intra-State movement, apply the State’s notified figure and area exemptions.
5. Check rule 138(14), the Annexure, and any rule 138F notification for Chapter 71 goods.
6. Override the threshold for inter-State job work and inter-State handicrafts by exempted persons.
7. Where several invoices of one consignor travel together, note the conflict between the portal’s FAQ and the Kerala High Court’s reading of rule 138(1).
8. Fill Part B before the goods move by road, unless the leg is one of the two 50 km legs within the State.

The next guide covers generating an e-way bill on the portal, extending it, cancelling it and rejecting one, with the validity rules and the 2025 changes.