E-Way Bills

When goods move from one place to another in India — whether across state borders or within a state — the GST law requires an electronic document called an E-Way Bill to accompany them. Introduced in April 2018, the E-Way Bill system is designed to track the movement of goods and prevent tax evasion. For a manufacturing business that ships finished products to customers or receives raw materials from vendors, E-Way Bills are a routine part of dispatching and receiving goods.

This chapter explains when E-Way Bills are required, what information they contain, how validity is calculated, and how to manage them in Udyamo ERP Lite through the EwayBill module.

What You Will Learn

• When an E-Way Bill is required and when it is not
• The key data points on an E-Way Bill
• Validity rules based on distance
• The EwayBill model in Udyamo ERP Lite — fields, statuses, and actions
• The generation, activation, and cancellation workflow
• Step-by-step: generating, activating, and cancelling an E-Way Bill

Prerequisites

• GST is configured on your organization, items, and customers/vendors (Chapter 36)
• At least one invoice exists for which goods need to be transported (Chapter 23)
• You have Owner or Admin role access

When Is an E-Way Bill Required?

The E-Way Bill rules are governed by Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017. The key thresholds are:

Inter-state movement: An E-Way Bill is mandatory for the movement of goods with a consignment value exceeding Rs 50,000. This applies to all inter-state movements without exception.

Intra-state movement: The Rs 50,000 threshold applies, but individual states may lower this threshold. Some states (such as Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu) have reduced it to Rs 50,000, while others have set different limits. Check the rules for your specific state.

When it is NOT required:

• Goods transported by a non-motorized conveyance (bullock cart, hand cart)
• Goods transported from the port, airport, or land customs station to an Inland Container Depot (ICD) or Container Freight Station (CFS) for customs clearance
• Goods covered under specific exemption notifications (e.g., LPG for household use, kerosene under PDS)
• Movement of goods within the same premises or between premises of the same person within a distance of 20 km

Warning: Transporting goods without a valid E-Way Bill when one is required can result in detention of the goods and the vehicle, along with a penalty equal to the tax amount or Rs 10,000, whichever is higher. Ensure you generate the bill before goods leave your premises.

Key Information on an E-Way Bill

An E-Way Bill captures details about the goods, the transaction, and the movement. The following table maps these to the EwayBill model fields in Udyamo ERP Lite:

Validity Rules

The validity of an E-Way Bill depends on the distance the goods must travel. The rules are:

Examples for regular cargo:

The validity period starts from the time of generation on the E-Way Bill portal. If the validity expires before the goods reach their destination, the transporter or the generator can extend it — but only within 8 hours before or after expiry.

Tip: When entering the distance_km in Udyamo, use the approximate road distance between your dispatch location and the customer's delivery address. The E-Way Bill portal provides a distance calculator based on PIN codes that you can reference.

E-Way Bill Statuses and Lifecycle

The EwayBill record in Udyamo ERP Lite follows a defined lifecycle:

pending  ──>  generated  ──>  active  ──>  expired
                                │
                                └──>  cancelled

Actions

Required: E-Way Bills must be generated on the government E-Way Bill portal (ewaybillgst.gov.in) or through the NIC API. Udyamo ERP Lite tracks the E-Way Bill lifecycle internally and stores the bill number for reference. The actual generation happens on the portal.

Cancellation Rules

An E-Way Bill can be cancelled only under the following conditions:

1. Time limit: Cancellation is allowed only within 24 hours of generation.
2. Goods must not be in transit. If the goods have already been verified by a tax officer during transit, the bill cannot be cancelled.
3. Reason: You must provide a reason for cancellation — typically because the goods are not being transported, the order was cancelled, or the bill was generated with incorrect details.

If more than 24 hours have passed and the E-Way Bill contains errors, you cannot cancel it. Instead, you generate a new E-Way Bill with the correct details. The original bill will expire on its own.

Step by Step: Generating an E-Way Bill for an Invoice

1. Navigate to Tax & Compliance > E-Way Bills and click New E-Way Bill.
2. Select the Invoice for which the goods are being shipped. For example, Invoice #INV-2026-0042 for 50 gear housings (HSN 8483) valued at Rs 3,75,000 to a customer in Gujarat.
3. Enter the Transporter Name — for example, Rajdhani Transport Co..
4. Enter the Transporter ID (GSTIN or transporter enrollment number) — for example, 27AABCT1234F1ZQ.
5. Enter the Vehicle Number — for example, MH 04 AB 1234.
6. Enter the Distance in kilometers — for example, 650 (Pune to Ahmedabad).
7. Save the record. The status is now Pending.
8. Log in to the E-Way Bill portal (ewaybillgst.gov.in) and generate the E-Way Bill using the invoice and transport details.
9. Copy the 12-digit E-Way Bill Number (EBN) from the portal.
10. Return to Udyamo, open the E-Way Bill record, and enter the Bill Number — for example, 3210 7865 4321.
11. Click the Generate Bill action. The status changes to Generated and the generation_date is recorded.

Step by Step: Activating an E-Way Bill

1. Once the vehicle is loaded and ready to depart, open the E-Way Bill record in Udyamo.
2. Verify that the vehicle number matches the actual vehicle. If the vehicle has changed, update the vehicle_number field and update Part B on the E-Way Bill portal as well.
3. Click the Activate action. The status changes to Active.
4. Print or share the E-Way Bill number with the driver. The driver (or the transporter) must carry the E-Way Bill number or a printed copy during transit. A tax officer may verify it at any checkpoint.

Step by Step: Cancelling an E-Way Bill

1. Ensure you are within 24 hours of the generation time.
2. Open the E-Way Bill record in Udyamo.
3. Click the Cancel Bill action.
4. The status changes to Cancelled.
5. Add a note explaining the reason — for example, "Customer cancelled the order before dispatch" or "Incorrect vehicle number — regenerating with correct details."
6. Cancel the E-Way Bill on the portal as well, providing the same reason.
7. If needed, create a new E-Way Bill record for the corrected shipment.

Warning: Cancelling on the portal and cancelling in Udyamo are separate steps. Always do both. A mismatch between portal status and ERP status will cause confusion during audits.

Tips & Best Practices

• Generate the E-Way Bill before the vehicle leaves your premises. Generating it "on the way" is risky — network issues at checkpoints can delay your shipment.
• Keep vehicle numbers updated. If the transporter changes the vehicle mid-route (transshipment), update Part B of the E-Way Bill on the portal. Record the change in the notes field in Udyamo.
• For multiple invoices on one vehicle, you can generate a consolidated E-Way Bill on the portal. In Udyamo, create separate EwayBill records for each invoice and note the consolidated EBN in each record's notes.
• Monitor expiring E-Way Bills. If your shipment is delayed (breakdown, road closure), extend the E-Way Bill on the portal before it expires. You can extend only within 8 hours before or after the expiry time.
• Archive E-Way Bill records. Maintain records for at least 72 months (6 years) from the date of filing the annual return, as required under GST law.

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