How to Configure Mandatory Ship-To GSTIN Rules for E-Way Bills in Tally Prime

Managing dispatch logistics in India requires strict adherence to the **E-Way Bill rules** under Section 68 of the CGST Act. The GST Council has introduced a critical update to the e-way bill generation system: the **mandatory requirement of the Ship-To GSTIN** for all Bill-to/Ship-to transactions.

Designed to track the actual movement of goods and prevent tax evasion through circular billing, this update requires billing software to validate consignee identities before requesting e-way bill slips. Let's look at how to set up your Tally Prime database to meet these requirements.

1. Deciphering the Ship-To GSTIN Mandate

In a standard Bill-to/Ship-to transaction, three entities are involved:

• Supplier: The entity dispatching the goods.
• Buyer (Bill-To): The entity purchasing the goods and receiving the tax invoice.
• Consignee (Ship-To): The entity physically receiving the goods at their warehouse or site.

Historically, transporters often omitted the consignee's GSTIN or left it blank. Under the new rules, providing the **consignee's GSTIN (Ship-To GSTIN)** is mandatory.

If the consignee is unregistered, you must enter the value **"URP" (Unregistered Person)**. Leaving the field blank will result in validation failures from the e-way bill portal APIs.

2. Configuring Customer Masters in Tally Prime

To manage multiple delivery locations for a single customer without creating duplicate ledger accounts, Tally Prime features multi-address configuration:

1. Go to **Gateway of Tally > Alter > Ledger** and select the Debtor ledger.
2. Press **F12 (Configure)** and set **Use Multiple Addresses** to **Yes**. Press **Ctrl + A** to save.
3. A new field named **Set/Alter Multiple Addresses** will appear. Set it to **Yes**.
4. In the address configuration window, define each shipping location with a unique label (e.g., "MUMBAI WAREHOUSE" or "DELHI SITE").
5. Input the delivery address, select the State, and enter the **Ship-To GSTIN** for that specific location. If the site belongs to an unregistered buyer, set the GSTIN to **URP**.

3. Generating E-Way Bills during Sales Entry

When recording a transaction that requires an E-Way Bill:

Open a **Sales Voucher (F8)**. Select the main customer ledger in the Party field. In the **Party Details** pop-up, you will see separate sections for **Bill-To (Buyer)** and **Ship-To (Consignee)** details.

Select the predefined shipping address from the list. Tally will automatically populate the Ship-To address, State, and GSTIN/URP fields.

Complete the invoice entries and set **Provide GST/e-Way Bill Details** to **Yes**. Tally will calculate the distance based on the PIN codes and send the data directly to the e-way bill portal using GSP services, returning a verified e-way bill number.

4. Troubleshooting Portal Rejections

If you encounter errors during generation, review these common validation checks:

• Pincode-GSTIN State Mismatch: The first two digits of the Ship-To GSTIN must match the state prefix code of the shipping address PIN code.
• Invalid State Code for URP: When using "URP", ensure the shipping state code is entered correctly to prevent tax rate calculation issues.