Documents and devices to be carried by a person-in-charge of a conveyance
Rule 138A of the CGST Rules
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The person in charge of the conveyance must carry the invoice, bill of supply or delivery challan and the e-way bill in physical or electronic form, or have the invoice reference number, or a device mapped to the RFID where the Commissioner has notified it.
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The exact words of the law
2,053 characters, uneditedReproduced from the CBIC text. We explain it above — but you should always be able to read it yourself.
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(1) The person in charge of a conveyance shall carry-
(a) the invoice or bill of supply or delivery challan, as the case may be; and
(b) a copy of the e-waybill in physical form or the e-way bill number in electronic form or mapped to a Radio Frequency Identification Device embedded on to the conveyance in such manner as may be Notified by the Commissioner: Provided that nothing contained in clause
(b) of this sub-rule shall apply in case of movement of goods by rail or by air or vessel: 2 [ Provided further that in case of imported goods, the person in charge of a conveyance shall also carry a copy of the bill of entry filed by the importer of such goods and shall indicate the number and date of the bill of entry in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01.] 3 [
(2) In case, invoice is issued in the manner prescribed under sub-rule
(4) of rule 48 , the Quick Response (QR)code having an embedded Invoice Reference Number (IRN) in it, may be produced electronically, for verification by the proper officer in lieu of the physical copy of such tax invoice.]
(3) Where the registered person uploads the invoice under sub-rule (2), the information in Part A of FORM GST EWB-01 shall be auto-populated by the common portal on the basis of the information furnished in FORM GST INV-1 .
(4) The Commissioner may, by Notification, require a class of transporters to obtain a unique Radio Frequency Identification Device and get the said device embedded on to the conveyance and map the e-way bill to the Radio Frequency Identification Device prior to the movement of goods.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause
(b) of sub-rule (1), where circumstances so warrant, the Commissioner may, by Notification, require the person-in-charge of the conveyance to carry the following documents instead of the e-way bill
(a) tax invoice or bill of supply or bill of entry; or
(b) a delivery challan, where the goods are transported for reasons other than by way of supply.]
What changed, and when
The amendment trail, newest first — because the version that applies to your case depends on the period.
2020-09-30 · Substituted
72/2020-CTdated3
Substituted vide Notification No. 72/2020 -CT dated 30.09.2020 for "A registered person may obtain an Invoice Reference Number from the common portal by uploading, on the said portal, a tax invoice issued by him in FORM GST INV-1 and produce the same for verification by the proper officer in lieu of
2018-09-04 · Inserted
39/2018-CTdated04
Inserted vide Notification No. 39/2018-CT dated 04.09.2018.
2018-03-07 · Substituted
12/2018-C
Substituted by Notification No.12/2018-C.T. , dated 07.03.2018.
Where this comes from
Text reproduced from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, as available on 2026-09-05. The explanation and practice notes above are GSTZone’s own, written for this hub. If you spot anything out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it — this hub is checked daily against CBIC.
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