What a lorry receipt is
A lorry receipt is the document a transporter issues when it accepts goods for carriage by road. It records what was handed over, by whom, for whom, on which vehicle, and on what freight terms. It is known as an LR, a bilty or a consignment note, and the Carriage by Road Act, 2007 calls it a goods receipt.
Three people rely on it. The consignor uses it as proof that the goods were handed to the carrier. The consignee uses it to take delivery. The transporter uses it to bill the freight and to show what it agreed to carry.
What to fill in
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Your company | Name, address, phone and, if you are registered, your GSTIN and PAN. |
| Receipt details | LR number, date, loading and delivery cities, vehicle number and driver. |
| Consignor and consignee | Name, address and GSTIN of the sender and the receiver. |
| Goods | Description, number and type of packages, actual weight and charged weight. |
| Consignment details | The party’s invoice number, declared value, e-way bill number, who pays GST, and whether the goods travel at owner’s or carrier’s risk. |
| Freight | To pay, paid or to be billed; the freight; loading and bilty charges; any advance received. |
Declared value and risk
The value you record matters if goods are lost or damaged. Under the Carriage by Road Rules, 2011, a common carrier’s liability for loss is limited by reference to the freight (ten times the freight paid or payable) and cannot exceed the value declared in the goods forwarding note, unless a higher risk rate has been agreed. This is why transporters print “owner’s risk” on a bilty and why consignors with valuable loads insure them separately. Read the Act and Rules, or ask a lawyer, before relying on this for a claim.
The LR, the e-way bill and the tax invoice
These three travel together but do different jobs:
- Tax invoice — issued by the seller of the goods to the buyer. It shows what was sold and the GST on the goods.
- E-way bill — generated on the government portal for the movement of goods above the value threshold (₹50,000 in most cases; some states use a different limit for movement within the state). It needs the vehicle number or transporter ID.
- Lorry receipt — issued by the transporter. It is the contract and receipt for carrying the goods.
More detail is in the guide on LR, e-way bill and invoice.
Why the bilty matters for GST
Under GST, a goods transport agency (GTA) is a person who provides road transport of goods and issues a consignment note. In other words, issuing an LR is what places a transporter in the GTA rules, including reverse charge. See GST on goods transport for how that works and what changed in September 2025.
Keeping a record
Downloading a PDF needs no account. If you issue LRs regularly, a free CargoForge account numbers them in sequence, keeps each one for later, and lets you raise a transport bill for the same party without typing the details again.