Lorry Receipt (LR) in India: Format, Meaning and Why It Matters
A Lorry Receipt, universally called an LR and often a bilty in northern India, is the document a transporter issues when it takes goods into its custody. It is the contract of carriage.
It is also the document most disputes turn on, because it records what was handed over, in what condition, and who is responsible for it.
What a lorry receipt actually is
An LR is issued by the transporter to the consignor when goods are collected. It does three jobs at once, and confusing them causes most LR disputes.
A bilty is the same document. The word is used interchangeably across much of north India, and there is no legal distinction between an LR and a bilty.
- It is a receipt: proof the transporter took the goods.
- It is a contract of carriage: it sets the terms on which they are carried.
- It is a claim document: if goods are lost or damaged, the LR is what a claim is built on.
What an LR format must contain
Formats vary between transporters but the substantive fields do not.
Copies are issued to the consignor, the consignee and the transporter, with the driver carrying one. That is why the same LR exists in four places and why a discrepancy between copies becomes a problem.
- LR number and date. The LR number is the reference everything else hangs off.
- Consignor name and address, and consignee name and address.
- Origin and destination.
- Description of goods, number of packages, and weight.
- Declared value, where applicable.
- Freight terms: whether freight is paid, to-pay, or billed to a third party.
- Vehicle number and driver details.
- Invoice and eWay Bill references.
What LR number, LR date, LR copy and LR payment mean
Most people searching these terms are looking at an LR and cannot tell what a particular field is for. Taken one at a time:
None of these fields is optional in practice. A missing LR number makes the consignment untraceable, and a wrong LR date undermines any claim that depends on when transit began.
- LR number means the unique serial the transporter assigns to that consignment. It is issued by the transporter, not by any government system, and it is the reference you quote to track the shipment, to raise an invoice against it, or to file a claim.
- LR date means the date the transporter took the goods into custody. It starts the transit clock, so it is the date any transit-time or delay claim is measured from. It should sit alongside the invoice date and the eWay Bill date without contradicting either, because a mismatch between the three is one of the first things questioned at a check-post.
- LR copy means one of the physical copies of the same lorry receipt. In everyday use, when someone asks you to "send the LR copy" they usually mean a scan or photograph of it as proof that the goods were dispatched, most often before releasing payment.
- LR payment means the freight payment term recorded on the receipt: paid, to-pay or TBB. It decides who owes the freight and when, and it is covered in full in the next section.
Paid, to-pay and TBB freight terms
This single field determines who owes money and is the most common source of billing disputes.
Getting this wrong on the LR produces a delivery where nobody will pay and nobody will release the goods. Confirm it at booking rather than at the destination.
- Paid: the consignor has paid the freight at origin.
- To-pay: the consignee pays on delivery, and goods are commonly withheld until they do.
- TBB, or to be billed: freight is billed to an account, typically a regular customer.
LR number tracking
The LR number is how a consignment is tracked through a transporter's system. A consignee chasing a delivery is normally asked for it rather than for a vehicle number.
Most transporters expose LR tracking through their own portal or over the phone. There is no central national LR tracking system, because an LR is a private commercial document rather than a government one, unlike the eWay Bill.
That distinction matters: the eWay Bill is tracked by the GST system, the LR is tracked only by the transporter who issued it.
What goes wrong with LRs
The recurring failures are administrative rather than dramatic.
The last one is why LR digitisation matters more than it sounds. A paper LR travelling back with the driver means invoicing waits on the vehicle returning.
- Goods described loosely, so a damage claim cannot establish what was actually sent.
- Condition not noted at pickup, so pre-existing damage becomes the transporter's liability.
- Package count wrong, which surfaces at delivery when one is missing and nobody can prove whether it was ever loaded.
- Freight terms unclear, producing the standoff described above.
- LR issued but never digitised, so the office has no record until the driver returns days later.
LR and eWay Bill are not the same thing
Both travel with the consignment and they are frequently confused.
The eWay Bill is a GST compliance document generated on the government portal, required for movement of goods above the threshold value. Its validity is time-bound and tied to distance, and Part-B carries the vehicle number.
The LR is a commercial document issued by the transporter. It has no government portal, no expiry, and no legal validity requirement.
You need both. An LR does not satisfy the eWay Bill requirement, and an eWay Bill does not evidence the contract of carriage. See how to generate an eWay Bill.
Frequently asked questions
What is a lorry receipt?
A lorry receipt, or LR, is the document a transporter issues when it takes goods into custody. It works simultaneously as a receipt for the goods, the contract of carriage, and the basis of any loss or damage claim.
What is the difference between LR and bilty?
There is none. Bilty is the term used across much of north India for the same document. There is no legal distinction between a lorry receipt and a bilty.
What does LR number mean?
The LR number is the unique serial a transporter assigns to a consignment when it issues the lorry receipt. It is not government-issued. It is the reference used to track the shipment, to invoice against it, and to identify it in a loss or damage claim.
What does LR date mean?
The LR date is the date the transporter took the goods into custody. It starts the transit clock and is the date any delay or transit-time claim is measured from. It should agree with the invoice date and the eWay Bill date, because a mismatch between them is questioned at check-posts.
What does LR copy mean?
An LR copy is one of the physical copies of the same lorry receipt, issued to the consignor, the consignee and the transporter, with the driver carrying one. In everyday use, a request to send the LR copy means a scan or photograph of it as proof of dispatch, usually before payment is released.
What does LR payment mean?
LR payment refers to the freight payment term recorded on the lorry receipt: paid, to-pay or TBB. It determines who owes the freight and when it falls due, and getting it wrong is the most common cause of a delivery stalling at the destination.
What does an LR format need to contain?
LR number and date, consignor and consignee details, origin and destination, description of goods with package count and weight, declared value, freight terms, vehicle and driver details, and invoice and eWay Bill references.
What do paid, to-pay and TBB mean on an LR?
Paid means the consignor settled freight at origin. To-pay means the consignee pays on delivery, and goods are commonly withheld until they do. TBB, to be billed, means freight is billed to an account, usually a regular customer.
Is a lorry receipt the same as an eWay Bill?
No. The eWay Bill is a GST compliance document generated on the government portal, time-bound and tied to distance, with the vehicle number in Part-B. The LR is a commercial document issued by the transporter with no portal or expiry. Both are needed and neither substitutes for the other.