Delivery Challan Under GST: Format, Rule 55 and When You Need One

A delivery challan is the document that travels with goods when they move without a tax invoice. Examples: cloth going to a tailor for stitching, jewellery sent to a customer to choose from, stock moving to your own godown, a machine going out for repair. When an officer stops the truck, the challan is what shows whose goods these are, where they're going and why.

GST allows it, but only in specific cases. Those cases, and what the challan must show, are set out in Rule 55 of the CGST Rules.

When a delivery challan can replace an invoice

Rule 55 lets you move goods on a challan instead of a tax invoice for:

1. Liquid gas where the quantity isn't known when it leaves your premises.
2. Job work: sending goods to a job worker for processing.
3. Movement that isn't a supply: to your own branch under the same GSTIN, to an exhibition, for repair, testing or demonstration.
4. Other supplies the government notifies.

It also covers goods sent in lots, or in semi-knocked-down or completely-knocked-down (SKD/CKD) condition:

• The complete invoice is issued before the first lot leaves.
• Each later lot moves on a challan that quotes that invoice, with a certified copy of it.
• The original invoice goes with the last lot.

The common mistake: "challan now, invoice later"

For an ordinary sale, the tax invoice has to be issued at or before the goods leave (section 31 of the CGST Act). A challan doesn't postpone it. The only "invoice after delivery" case Rule 55 allows is when the quantity genuinely can't be known at dispatch, as with liquid gas. Sending regular sales on challans and invoicing at month-end is exactly what a roadside check catches.

What a delivery challan must show

Rule 55(1) lists the particulars:

• Challan number: at most 16 characters, in one or more series.
• Challan date.
• Consignor's name, address and GSTIN (if registered).
• Consignee's name, address and GSTIN or UIN (if registered).
• HSN code and description of the goods.
• Quantity. It can be provisional when the exact quantity isn't known.
• Taxable value.
• Tax rate and amount (CGST, SGST/UTGST, IGST, cess), only where the goods move for supply to the consignee.
• Place of supply, for inter-state movement.
• Signature.

The three copies

A challan for supply of goods is prepared in triplicate, each copy marked:

Copy	Marked	Who keeps it
First	ORIGINAL FOR CONSIGNEE	The receiver
Second	DUPLICATE FOR TRANSPORTER	Travels with the goods
Third	TRIPLICATE FOR CONSIGNER	Your records

Most businesses print all three for every challan. It costs nothing and answers every "where's your copy?" question.

Is GST shown on a delivery challan?

Only when the goods move for supply, such as sale on approval, lots of an invoiced supply, or liquid gas. Then the challan shows the tax rate and amount.

For job work, own-branch transfers, exhibitions and repairs, the challan shows the value without tax. The value is still mandatory: it's what the e-way bill and the job work return are based on.

Job work: the one-year clock

Under section 143 of the CGST Act, goods you send for job work must come back, or be supplied from the job worker's premises:

• Inputs: within 1 year.
• Capital goods: within 3 years. Moulds, dies, jigs, fixtures and tools are outside this limit.

If they don't, the goods are treated as supplied by you on the day they were sent, and tax is due with interest. Goods sent to and received from job workers are reported in ITC-04: half-yearly if your aggregate turnover is above ₹5 crore, otherwise annually.

Sale on approval: six months

When goods go to a customer on approval ("keep what you like, return the rest"), section 31(7) requires the invoice when the sale actually happens, or six months from removal, whichever is earlier. The goods travel on a challan, the accepted part is invoiced, and the rest comes back.

Moving goods to your own branch

• Same GSTIN (another godown or site in the same state): not a supply, so a challan is right.
• Different GSTIN (a branch registered in another state): GST treats the two registrations as distinct persons, so the transfer is a supply. It needs a tax invoice and, usually, an e-way bill, not a challan.

E-way bill with a delivery challan

A challan can be the document behind an e-way bill: on the portal, you choose document type "Delivery Challan".

• An e-way bill is needed when the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000 for inter-state movement. States set their own limits for movement within the state.
• Inter-state job work needs one at any value.
• Once generated, write the e-way bill number on the challan.

Reporting challans: GSTR-1 Table 13

From the May 2025 return period onwards, GSTR-1 Table 13 (documents issued) is mandatory. Delivery challans are reported there by serial range, in four rows:

• Delivery Challan for job work
• Delivery Challan for supply on approval
• Delivery Challan in case of liquid gas
• Delivery Challan in cases other than by way of supply

Delivery challan vs tax invoice

	Delivery challan	Tax invoice
Purpose	Proof of the goods' movement	Proof of sale, and the demand for tax
Ownership passes?	No	Yes
GST charged?	Only shown when moving for supply	Yes
Payment against it?	No	Yes
Buyer's input tax credit	No	Yes
In GSTR-1	Table 13 only (count and serials)	Fully reported
Later	Can be converted into an invoice once sold	Adjusted by credit/debit notes

How to make a delivery challan in CredHill

1. Choose what the goods are going for: job work, sale on approval, supply in lots, liquid-gas type supply, delivery note for an invoice, own premises, exhibition, or demo/repair. The purpose decides the rest: who it can go to, whether tax is shown, whether the goods are expected back, and the declaration printed at the bottom.
2. Pick the consignee.
   • A client, with their shipping addresses.
   • A vendor, e.g. your job worker.
   • Your own premises, with the destination address. A different GSTIN there is flagged, since that would be a supply.
3. Add the items. Tax appears only when the purpose is a supply. For job work and transfers, the challan shows value only.
4. Fill in transport details: vehicle number, transporter, LR number, and the e-way bill number once you have it.
5. Preview and print.
   • Choose Original, Duplicate, Triplicate or all three, each correctly marked and on its own page.
   • Each copy carries a "received in good condition" box for the receiver's signature.
   • A delivery note can print quantities only.
6. Close the loop.
   • Turn an approval challan into an invoice in one click once the client decides.
   • Create a delivery note straight from any saved invoice.
   • Set a return date for goods that should come back. The list flags anything overdue against the one-year and six-month limits.

Your challans also appear automatically in Table 13 of CredHill's GSTR-1 summary, under the right rows.