e-Way Bill rules for transporters: a practical 2026 guide

A truck can be held on the highway over paperwork even when the goods are perfectly in order: the e-Way Bill has expired, the vehicle number was not updated after transhipment, or nobody realised the movement needed one. This guide sets out the e-Way Bill rules for transporters as written in CGST Rule 138 and the e-Way Bill portal FAQ, in the order a transport office meets them.

Rules and portal validations change through notifications. This guide reflects Rule 138, Rule 138E and portal announcements as checked on 14 September 2026. Confirm against the latest CBIC notification before acting on a specific case.

1. When an e-Way Bill is required

Rule 138(1) requires every registered person who causes movement of goods of consignment value exceeding ₹50,000 to furnish Part A of Form GST EWB-01 before the movement starts. It applies whether the movement is for a supply, for reasons other than supply (such as a stock transfer), or because of an inward supply from an unregistered person.

• How value is counted. Consignment value is the value on the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan, including central tax, state or UT tax, integrated tax and cess charged. It excludes the value of exempt supplies where one invoice covers both exempt and taxable goods.
• No value limit for some movements. Goods sent by a principal in one state or UT to a job worker in another need an e-Way Bill irrespective of value. So do inter-state movements of handicraft goods by a person exempted from registration.
• Voluntary below the limit. The registered person or the transporter may generate and carry an e-Way Bill even when the value is under ₹50,000.
• Valid across India. An e-Way Bill generated under the central or any state's Rule 138 is valid in every state and UT (Rule 138(13)).

2. Part A, Part B and who fills them

Form GST EWB-01 has two parts. Part A carries the consignment details from the invoice or challan. Part B carries the conveyance details, which for road movement means the vehicle.

• Part A is furnished by the registered person causing the movement. A transporter can furnish it on authorisation from that person, and an e-commerce operator or courier agency can furnish it on authorisation from the consignor.
• When the consignor or consignee moves the goods by road in its own or a hired vehicle, it generates the e-Way Bill after filling Part B itself (Rule 138(2)).
• When goods are handed to a transporter and the consignor has not generated the e-Way Bill, the registered person furnishes the transporter's details and the transporter generates the e-Way Bill using the Part A information (Rule 138(3)).
• Rail, air or vessel. The supplier or recipient furnishes Part B, either before or after the movement starts. For rail, the railways will not deliver the goods unless the e-Way Bill is produced (Rule 138(2A)).
• Part B deadline. The unique number generated after Part A is valid for 15 days for updating Part B (Rule 138(9)).

For road movement, an e-Way Bill is not valid until Part B is filled, except in the two short-distance cases below.

The 50 km Part B relaxation

• Goods moving up to 50 km within the same state or UT from the consignor's place of business to the transporter's place of business, for further transport, do not need Part B for that leg (Rule 138(3)).
• On the final leg, goods moving up to 50 km within the state or UT from the transporter's place of business to the consignee's place of business do not need the conveyance details updated (Rule 138(5)).

Transporter ID (TRANSIN) for unregistered transporters

A transporter not registered under GST enrols on the e-Way Bill portal to get a 15-digit Transporter ID, also called TRANSIN. It follows the GSTIN format, is based on state code and PAN, and is what consignors enter so the transporter can update Part B for their goods.

3. How e-Way Bill validity is counted

Validity depends on the distance to be covered and the type of cargo. The 200 km figure replaced the earlier 100 km from 1 January 2021 (Notification No. 94/2020-Central Tax).

How a day is counted. Validity runs from the time of generation, and each day ends at midnight of the day immediately following the date of generation. An e-Way Bill generated at 10 am on the 5th for a 150 km trip is valid until midnight between the 6th and the 7th.

Over dimensional cargo means cargo carried as a single indivisible unit that exceeds the dimensional limits in Rule 93 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

Distance checks on the portal. The portal calculates the PIN-to-PIN distance and allows up to 10% more than its figure. Where the from and to PIN codes are the same, the maximum distance allowed is 100 km.

4. Extending validity

Where goods cannot be moved within the validity period because of circumstances of an exceptional nature, including transhipment, the transporter may extend the validity after updating Part B if required (Rule 138(10)).

• Timing. The rule allows extension within eight hours from the time of expiry. The portal FAQ describes the option as available from eight hours before to eight hours after expiry.
• What you enter. The e-Way Bill number, the reason, the current place, the approximate remaining distance and the Part B details. Part A cannot be changed.
• Upper limit. From 1 January 2025 the portal does not allow an e-Way Bill to be extended beyond 360 days from its generation.

If the extension window is missed, a delayed truck ends up running on an expired e-Way Bill. A daily check of bills expiring in the next 12 hours, built into the control room routine, helps prevent this.

5. Changing vehicles, transhipment and handing over to another transporter

• Transfer between vehicles. Before goods are moved from one conveyance to another, the consignor, recipient or transporter must update the new vehicle in Part B (Rule 138(5)).
• Assigning another transporter. The person who filled Part A, or the transporter, can assign the e-Way Bill number to another registered or enrolled transporter to update Part B for further movement (Rule 138(5A)). Once a transporter has updated Part B, the consignor or recipient can no longer reassign it.
• Consignee refuses the goods. The portal FAQ says the transporter can have a new e-Way Bill generated, with the supplier's or recipient's help, showing the movement as a sales return with the relevant documents.

6. Consolidated e-Way Bill

When several consignments, each with its own e-Way Bill, travel in one vehicle, the transporter can list those e-Way Bill numbers on the portal and generate a consolidated e-Way Bill in Form GST EWB-02 before the movement (Rule 138(6)). Multiple invoices cannot be clubbed into one e-Way Bill, but their individual e-Way Bills can be consolidated for the trip.

Rule 138(7) adds a duty on the transporter: where the consignor or consignee has not generated e-Way Bills and the total value of goods in the vehicle exceeds ₹50,000, the transporter must generate them for inter-state supplies (other than by rail, air or vessel) from the invoices, challans or bills of supply, and may generate a consolidated e-Way Bill.

7. Cancellation and rejection

• Cancel within 24 hours. If goods are not transported, or not transported as per the details, the e-Way Bill can be cancelled within 24 hours of generation. It cannot be cancelled after it has been verified in transit (Rule 138(9)).
• Recipient's 72 hours. The other party can accept or reject the details. If it does not do so within 72 hours of the details being made available, or by delivery if earlier, it is deemed to have accepted them (Rule 138(12)).
• No duplicates. The portal does not allow a duplicate e-Way Bill for the same document by the consignor, consignee or transporter.

8. Movements that do not need an e-Way Bill

Rule 138(14) lists situations where no e-Way Bill is required. The ones transport and port logistics teams meet most often:

• Goods moved by a non-motorised conveyance.
• Goods moved from a customs port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station to an ICD or CFS for customs clearance.
• Goods moved under customs bond from an ICD or CFS to a customs port, airport, air cargo complex or land customs station, or between customs stations, and goods moved under customs supervision or customs seal.
• Empty cargo containers.
• Goods moved up to 20 km from the consignor's place of business to a weighbridge and back, accompanied by a delivery challan under Rule 55.
• Transit cargo to or from Nepal or Bhutan.
• Alcoholic liquor for human consumption, petroleum crude, high speed diesel, petrol, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel.
• Goods in the Annexure to Rule 138, such as LPG for household and exempted non-domestic customers, PDS kerosene, postal baggage, used personal and household effects, currency, and precious stones, precious metals and jewellery under Chapter 71 (imitation jewellery excepted).

States can also notify areas within which intra-state movement is exempt (Rule 138(14)(d)), so check your state's notification for local movements.

9. When e-Way Bill generation gets blocked

Rule 138E stops anyone, including the consignor, consignee or transporter, from filling Part A for outward movements of a registered person who:

• is a composition taxpayer and has not filed the statement in Form GST CMP-08 for two consecutive quarters;
• is any other registered person and has not filed returns for two consecutive tax periods;
• has not filed the statement of outward supplies for any two months or quarters; or
• has had registration suspended under Rule 21A.

The person can apply in Form GST EWB-05 to the jurisdictional Commissioner to be allowed to generate e-Way Bills, and an order is issued in Form GST EWB-06. Separately, the portal generates e-Way Bills only when the supplier's GSTIN status is Active.

For a transporter this matters because a customer's filing default can stop a planned dispatch at the last minute. Ask regular consignors to confirm their filing status if an e-Way Bill fails to generate.

10. Portal checks added from 2025

The e-Way Bill system announced two validations effective from 1 January 2025:

• An e-Way Bill can be generated only within 180 days of the document date. Older invoices or challans are rejected.
• An e-Way Bill cannot be extended beyond 360 days from its generation.

In July 2026 the portal said that some announced changes, including an e-Way Bill closure function and a mandatory Ship-to GSTIN, were kept on hold. Watch the portal announcements for when they return.

11. Mistakes that stop trucks

• Vehicle not updated after transhipment. Part B still shows the first vehicle.
• Validity lapsed on a delayed trip and nobody used the extension window.
• Value taken without tax. The ₹50,000 test includes GST and cess on the invoice.
• Assuming every port movement is exempt. The exemption covers port to ICD or CFS for customs clearance, and movement under customs bond or seal, not every trip that starts at a port.
• Old documents. Trying to generate against an invoice more than 180 days old.
• Wrong or missing Transporter ID, so the right transporter cannot update Part B.

Moving goods without a valid e-Way Bill where one is required can lead to detention or seizure of the goods and the vehicle under Section 129 of the CGST Act, with release only on payment of the applicable penalty. Check the current text of the section for the amounts.

12. Where software helps

Many of these mistakes happen because the e-Way Bill lives in a portal tab while the LR, trip and invoice live somewhere else. When they sit on the same record, the vehicle number, distance and document details come from data already entered, and the whole team can see which bills belong to which trip.

Logiintra includes e-Way Bill generation alongside digital LRs, trip settlement, GST invoicing and TDS/TCS in one system. See how it works for transport companies on our transport management software page, or for warehouses on warehouse management software.

Sources

• CGST Rule 138, CBIC tax information portal
• CGST Rule 138E, CBIC tax information portal
• E-Way Bill System FAQ
• E-Way Bill System announcements