GSTN Clarification on Mandatory “Ship-to GSTIN” & E-Way Bill Enhancements

GSTN has issued a further clarification regarding the upcoming e-Way Bill changes that are scheduled to be implemented from 1 August 2026.

1. Mandatory “Ship-to GSTIN” in Bill-to/Ship-to Transactions : In all Bill-to/Ship-to transactions, the Ship-to GSTIN field must be mandatorily populated while generating the e-Way Bill.Where the consignee is an unregistered person, the value “URP” (Unregistered Person) should be entered in the Ship-to GSTIN field.
2. Applicability to E-Invoice / IRN-based E-Way Bills: Stakeholders sought clarification on transactions where e-Way Bills are generated through e-Invoice (IRN).GSTN has clarified and introduced corresponding changes in:  e-Invoice API ,e-Way Bill by IRN API ,EWB Closure API
3. Voluntary Closure of E-Way Bill : Clarifications have also been provided regarding the operation of the Voluntary Closure of E-Way Bill facility and its impact on portal-based as well as API-based systems.
4. Sandbox Environment Available : The new functionalities have already been deployed in the Sandbox environment for testing purposes.ERP vendors, GSPs, ASPs, private IRPs and taxpayers can test and update their systems before implementation.
5. These changes will become effective in the Production environment from 1 August 2026.

GST Advisory Tutorials

https://www.gst.gov.in/newsandupdates/read/664