How do I calculate emissions from GTA freight billed under reverse charge?
Do not calculate from the reverse charge entry; it only records the freight amount and the GST you paid. Match each entry to the GTA's consignment note, which gives weight, origin and destination, then multiply tonnes by km by a road freight factor. Use a spend-based estimate only for entries with no consignment note.
Why the reverse charge record has no activity data
When a goods transport agency (GTA) supplies road freight to a factory or other specified recipient, Notification 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate) can put the GST on the recipient. You then pay the tax yourself, and where the GTA is unregistered you raise a self-invoice under section 31(3)(f) of the CGST Act. These documents exist for tax. They show the amount, the service code and the tax, but no weight or distance.
The tax treatment does not change the emissions. The same truck trip emits the same CO2 whether GST is paid forward or under reverse charge.
Where to find weight and distance
- The consignment note (lorry receipt, LR or bilty). Under GST, a GTA is a road transporter that issues one, so every genuine GTA trip should have it. It shows actual weight, from and to, and the vehicle number.
- The e-way bill for the same goods: approximate distance in km and vehicle number.
- Your own sales or purchase invoice: weight of goods, if the LR shows only a charged weight.
- Match on LR number, date and vehicle number. Keep the match in your freight register.
The calculation and the scope
Emissions = tonnes x km x factor per tonne-km for the truck class. Use the carrier's own factor if they can show its basis; otherwise a default factor for the Indian truck class.
Freight you pay for on inbound purchases or outbound sales is Scope 3 Category 4, upstream transportation. Trucks you own or lease and run yourself are Scope 1 from their diesel instead.
When there is no consignment note
Use the freight amount excluding GST with a spend-based road freight factor, and label the result as spend-based with wider uncertainty. Keep it on a separate line so you can replace it when the LR turns up. Do not mix the reverse charge GST into the spend; it is tax, not freight.
Worked example: one RCM entry matched to its LR
- RCM entry: freight amount for one trip, no weight or distance
- Matched LR: actual weight 14 t, Ludhiana to Delhi; e-way bill distance 320 km
- Activity: 14 x 320 = 4,480 tonne-km
- Factor: heavy truck 20 to 30 t GVW, 0.0823 kg CO2e per tonne-km, well-to-wheel
- Emissions: 4,480 x 0.0823 = 368.7 kg CO2e, Scope 3 Category 4
The trip details are illustrative. The factor is the Indian default for that truck class and includes typical empty running, so add no extra uplift.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads freight records such as lorry receipts and freight bills for weight, distance and mode, and its freight calculator applies default factors per tonne-km by mode and Indian truck class. Where only the spend from a self-invoice is available, it provides a spend-based estimate, labelled as such.
- Emissions from a freight bill
- Freight bill with no weight or distance
- Truck freight emission factors for India
- Logistics emissions calculator
Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard, Category 4 Upstream transportation, Smart Freight Centre, GLEC Framework
Last reviewed 2026-10-18. GTA tax options were changed in 2022 and again in the 2025 GST rate rationalisation; confirm the current notification before relying on the reverse charge position.