Delivery Challan Format 13 free variants — Excel, Word, PDF, Hindi and challan book
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What a delivery challan must contain
Rule 55 of the CGST Rules sets the fields. Every format on this page already has them — this is the list to check your own against.
- Serial number
- Unbroken, in its own series separate from your invoices. A gap is the single thing most likely to be questioned.
- Date and time of issue
- Time matters for an inter-state movement, because it starts the e-way bill validity clock.
- Consignor details
- Name, address and GSTIN of whoever is sending the goods — usually you.
- Consignee details
- Name, address and GSTIN where they are registered. Where they are not, name, address and place of supply.
- HSN code
- Of the goods, not of any service. Four digits is enough below ₹5 crore turnover.
- Description of goods
- Specific enough that an officer can match it to what is in the vehicle. “Goods” is not a description.
- Quantity and unit
- With the unit of measure. Bags, tonnes, numbers — whichever you actually counted in.
- Taxable value
- Required even though no tax is charged. It decides whether an e-way bill was needed.
- Tax rate and amount
- Only where the movement itself attracts tax, which is rare for a challan.
- Place of supply
- For inter-state movement. The consignee's state, not yours.
- Signature
- Of the issuer or an authorised person. A digital signature counts.
Issue it in triplicate — original marked for the consignee, duplicate for the transporter, triplicate retained by you. The triplicate book on this page is already laid out that way.
How to fill a delivery challan
Ten minutes the first time, two minutes after that. The order matters: fill the reason before the values, because the reason decides how you value them.
- Take the next serial
- From your challan series, not your invoice series. Write it before anything else so the number cannot be reused.
- Tick the reason
- Job work, stock transfer, approval, repair, exhibition, own use. This is what makes it a challan rather than an invoice.
- Fill both parties
- Your details as consignor. For your own branch as consignee, use that branch's GSTIN — not head office.
- Describe the goods
- Description, HSN, quantity, unit. One line per distinct item, not one line for the lot.
- Value them
- What they would fetch if sold — cost or market, whichever you can defend. Never zero.
- Add the vehicle
- Vehicle number and transporter. If the vehicle changes en route, the challan stands; the e-way bill needs updating.
- Check the e-way bill threshold
- Above ₹50,000 for most inter-state movement, generate the e-way bill against this challan and write its number on.
- Sign and split the copies
- Consignee keeps the original, the driver carries the duplicate, you keep the triplicate.
When you need a delivery challan
Six situations. If none of them fits, you probably need an invoice instead.
- Job work
- Goods out to a job worker and back — retreading, machining, galvanising, packing. Section 143 CGST allows it without tax if they return in time.
- Stock transfer
- Between your own godowns or branches. Same GSTIN or different, the movement still needs a document.
- Goods on approval
- Sent for the buyer to inspect. No sale until they accept, so no invoice yet.
- Repair or servicing
- Equipment out to a workshop. Value it, or you will struggle to claim if it is damaged in transit.
- Exhibition or demonstration
- Stock to a trade fair and back. Tick not-for-sale so nobody treats it as stock sold.
- Own use or site transfer
- Plant, tools or materials to your own site. Common for contractors and the most often skipped.
Delivery challan vs tax invoice
The most common mistake in this whole area is issuing one when you needed the other. They are not interchangeable.
| Delivery challan | Tax invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| What it records | Goods moved. No sale. | A sale, completed. |
| GST charged | None on the challan itself. | Yes, at the applicable rate. |
| Creates a payment due | No. | Yes. |
| Goes into GSTR-1 | No. | Yes, as an outward supply. |
| Serial series | Its own, separate. | Its own, separate. |
| When goods come back | Expected — that is the point. | Would need a credit note. |
Sending goods on a challan when a sale has actually happened is what triggers penalties at a check post, because the officer is looking at goods worth more than the paperwork admits. If money is changing hands for these goods, raise an invoice.
Delivery challan vs e-way bill
These two are not alternatives — you often need both, and they reference each other.
| Delivery challan | E-way bill | |
|---|---|---|
| Who issues it | You do, on your own stationery. | The GST portal generates it. |
| What it is | The document describing the goods. | A number authorising the movement. |
| Threshold | Any value. Always needed for a non-sale movement. | Above ₹50,000 consignment value, in most states. |
| Validity | No expiry. | One day per 200 km, extendable. |
| Vehicle change | No reissue needed. | Part B must be updated. |
| Where the other appears | EWB number written on the challan. | Challan number entered as the document reference. |
Five mistakes that cause trouble at a check post
Every one of these is something an officer can see in ten seconds.
- A gap in the serial series
- Looks like a movement you are hiding. If a challan is spoiled, write CANCELLED on all copies and keep them.
- Taxable value left blank or zero
- The officer cannot tell whether an e-way bill was required, so they assume it was.
- No reason ticked
- A challan with no stated reason reads as an invoice avoiding tax.
- Description too vague
- “50 bags” of what? If it cannot be matched to the load, the load gets detained.
- Consignee GSTIN of head office
- For a branch transfer, use the receiving branch's GSTIN. Head office is the wrong place of supply.
Job work: the one-year and three-year rule
Section 143 of the CGST Act lets you send inputs or capital goods to a job worker without paying tax, on the condition that they come back. Inputs must return within one year of going out; capital goods within three. Moulds, dies, jigs and fixtures are outside the limit entirely.
If the deadline passes and the goods have not returned, the movement is treated as a supply made on the day they left — not the day the deadline expired. That means tax plus interest calculated from the original date, which is why the return-by field on the job-work challan matters. It is not a legal requirement; it is your own reminder, and it is cheaper than the alternative.
The job worker issues their own challan to send the goods back, referencing yours. Keep the pair together: the two challans are what show the goods went and came back inside the window.
Challan book, or print as you go?
A bound book of pre-numbered challans in duplicate or triplicate, with carbon between the copies, is still the practical choice for most fleets. Loading happens away from the office, the driver tears off the consignee's copy at delivery, and the counterfoil comes back in the book. One pen stroke fills every copy.
Printing each challan is better if you raise them from a desk and want them filled digitally — no handwriting to argue about, and the serial can come from a system rather than a pad. What it needs is a printer wherever the goods are, which most yards do not have.
A hundred sets is the standard binding and roughly a month for a small fleet. Fewer than fifty and you are back at the press too often; more than two hundred and the book is too thick to keep in a cab.
Hindi and Tamil challans
Nothing in Rule 55 requires the challan to be in English. What it requires is that the information is present and legible, so a challan with Hindi or Tamil field names is accepted, and it is materially better if the person filling it in does not read English comfortably.
The Hindi and Tamil versions on this page carry the reason-for-transportation row translated as tick-boxes, in the same order as the English one — so a bilingual pad ticks the same box. The Rule 55 strapline and the declaration stay in English deliberately: those are legal sentences, and a machine translation of a legal sentence is worse than no translation at all.
When the paper stops being enough
A challan book works right up to the point where you need to know which consignments are still unbilled, or which job-work goods never came back before the year was up. That is a search through a stack of counterfoils, done by hand, usually in a hurry.
Fleetbooks issues the challan, numbers it, and holds the answer — alongside the trip it belongs to and what that trip actually cleared. The paper habit stays if you want it: photograph a handwritten challan and it is read, numbered and filed.
Questions operators ask
What is a delivery challan?
A delivery challan is the document that accompanies goods moving without a tax invoice — job work, stock transfer between branches, goods on approval, or equipment to a site. It records what left, in what quantity and at what value, so the movement is accounted for even though nothing has been sold.
What must a delivery challan contain under GST?
Rule 55 of the CGST Rules requires a serial number, date of issue, the consignor's name, address and GSTIN, the same for the consignee where registered, HSN code and description of the goods, quantity, taxable value, tax rate and amount where applicable, place of supply for inter-state movement, and a signature. Issue it in triplicate.
What is the difference between a delivery challan and an invoice?
An invoice records a sale and creates both a payment obligation and a GST liability. A challan records a movement where no sale has happened, so no tax is charged on it. If the goods are eventually sold, an invoice is raised then. Using a challan to cover an actual sale is what triggers penalties.
Do I need an e-way bill with a delivery challan?
If the consignment value crosses the threshold in your state — ₹50,000 for most inter-state movement — yes. The e-way bill is generated against the challan instead of an invoice: the challan number goes into Part A, the vehicle number into Part B, and the resulting EWB number goes onto the challan. Carry both.
What value should I write on a delivery challan if nothing is being sold?
The value the goods would carry if they were sold — cost or market value, whichever you can justify. Rule 55 asks for the taxable value even where no tax is charged, because it is what a check post uses to decide whether an e-way bill was required. Zero or blank invites the assumption that one was.
Can a delivery challan use the same serial numbers as my invoices?
No. Keep a separate, unbroken series. Mixing them leaves a gap in one series or the other, and an unexplained gap in a challan series is the thing most likely to be questioned in an audit.
Does the consignee need a GSTIN on a delivery challan?
Only if they are registered. For an unregistered consignee — a site, a labour contractor, a customer taking goods on approval — write the name, address and place of supply, and leave GSTIN blank. For your own branch, use that branch's GSTIN rather than head office.
Can I write a delivery challan by hand?
Yes. Nothing requires it to be printed or digital, provided every required field is present, legible and serially numbered. A handwritten challan from a bound book is accepted at check posts across India. What causes trouble is a missing serial or a gap in the sequence.
How many copies of a delivery challan do I need?
Three, per Rule 55: original marked for the consignee, duplicate for the transporter, triplicate retained by you. Where you carry the goods in your own vehicle, two is common practice — consignee and your own copy — and a duplicate book covers that.
What happens if job work goods do not come back in time?
Inputs must return within one year and capital goods within three, counted from the date they went out. Past that, the movement is treated as a supply made on the day they left, so tax and interest run from that original date. Moulds, dies, jigs and fixtures are exempt from the limit.
Is a delivery challan needed for a stock transfer within the same state and same GSTIN?
Yes. The goods are moving and an officer can stop the vehicle, so the movement needs a document even though there is no supply and no tax. A challan is the correct one; an invoice would wrongly record a sale.
Can I use a delivery challan for a sales return?
The customer returning goods issues their own delivery challan for the movement, and you raise a credit note against the original invoice for the accounting. The challan moves the goods; the credit note reverses the sale. Both are needed, and they do different jobs.
Does a delivery challan have to be in English?
No. Rule 55 specifies the information, not the language. Hindi and Tamil challans are accepted, and are better where the person filling them in does not read English comfortably. Both are on this page.
When the paper stops being enough
A delivery challan on paper works until you need to know which ones are still unpaid, or how this month compares to last. That is a search through a stack. Fleetbooks issues the document, numbers it, and holds the answer — alongside the trip it belongs to and what that trip actually cleared.