GST Challan: How to Generate and Pay (PMT-06) (2026)

The GST challan is the document that actually moves money from your bank to the government under GST. Every time you deposit tax, interest, a penalty or a late fee, you do it by generating a challan on the GST portal and paying against it. The challan is created using a form called PMT-06, and the money you pay lands in your electronic cash ledger, the wallet the portal keeps for your GSTIN. Understanding the challan, the cash ledger and how they connect to your return removes most of the confusion around GST payment. This guide covers what a GST challan is, how to generate it, the payment modes, and the mistakes to avoid.

What a GST challan is

A GST challan is simply a payment slip generated on the portal. It records how much you are depositing and under which tax head, and carries a unique reference number that ties the payment to your registration. The challan itself does not calculate your tax. You decide the amount from your return workings and enter it, head by head, into the challan. Once you pay, the amount is credited to your electronic cash ledger and waits there until you use it to settle your liability at filing.

It helps to think of the challan as the bridge between your bank and your cash ledger. Nothing enters the cash ledger except through a paid challan, and the cash ledger is what funds any tax you cannot cover with input tax credit. So the challan is where the real payment happens, and the return is where that payment is applied.

Generating a challan with PMT-06

Form PMT-06 is the challan form on the GST portal. Generating it is a short process:

• Log in and open the payment section: go to services, then payments, then create challan.
• Enter the amounts: fill in what you are paying under each head, CGST, SGST, IGST and cess, and split between tax, interest, penalty and fee as needed.
• Pick a payment mode: choose net banking, UPI, card, NEFT or RTGS, or over-the-counter within the cash limit.
• Generate the challan: the portal creates the challan with a unique reference number and a validity period.
• Complete the payment: pay before the challan expires, and confirm the amount shows in your cash ledger.

The payment modes and when to use them

The challan supports the same payment modes as the wider GST payment process, and picking the right one avoids delays:

For NEFT and RTGS, timing matters. The challan is valid for a limited period, and the bank transfer must be completed within that window. A transfer made against an expired challan can get stuck and take effort to trace, so generate the challan and complete the transfer promptly rather than leaving a gap.

How the electronic cash ledger works

The electronic cash ledger is the account that receives every challan payment. It is split by tax head, so the money you deposit under CGST sits separately from SGST, IGST and cess. When you file, the portal draws from this ledger, together with your credit ledger, to clear your liability. A few points are worth remembering:

• Money stays until used: a payment made in advance is not lost. It sits in the cash ledger until a return uses it.
• Heads are separate: a balance under one head cannot always be freely used for another, so deposit the right amount under each.
• It covers more than tax: unlike the credit ledger, the cash ledger can pay interest, penalty and late fee as well as tax.
• You can view it any time: the ledger balance is visible when you log in, which helps you confirm a payment before filing.

Getting the amount right before you generate

The challan does not tell you what to pay, so the accuracy comes from your workings. Before you create a PMT-06, total your output tax for the period, subtract the input tax credit you can claim after matching with GSTR-2B, and split the balance by tax head. Only then do you know the figure to enter. This is why clean records matter so much. When your sales and purchases are already recorded correctly, generating the challan is a two-minute job. When they are not, you spend the time reconciling at the last minute and risk paying the wrong amount under the wrong head.

Mistakes to avoid with GST challans

A few errors around challans cause most of the trouble, and all are avoidable:

• Letting the challan expire: generate and pay in one sitting, especially for NEFT or RTGS, so the challan stays valid.
• Wrong tax head: money under the wrong head can block filing even when the total is correct. Split carefully.
• Paying twice: if a payment does not reflect at once, check the status before generating a new challan, as it often updates after a short delay.
• Not saving the receipt: keep the paid challan and its reference number, because you may need it if a payment is queried.
• Leaving it to the deadline: portal and bank load near the due date causes failures, so pay a day or two early.

How the challan connects to your return

It is worth restating the sequence, because getting it in the wrong order causes stress at filing. First you work out your liability from your records. Then you generate a PMT-06 challan and pay the cash portion, which lands in your electronic cash ledger. Only then do you file your return, and the portal offsets the liability against your credit ledger and cash ledger together. If you try to file before the cash ledger holds enough, filing is blocked until you deposit the balance. Doing the challan a day or two ahead of the return keeps the whole thing calm. For the broader payment context, see our guide to GST payment through the portal.

The bottom line

A GST challan is the payment slip that moves money into your electronic cash ledger, generated on the portal using form PMT-06. Get your figures right, split them correctly by tax head, pay before the challan expires, and confirm the cash ledger update before you file. The whole process is quick when your underlying records are clean, which is exactly what good billing software gives you. IndiaCRM keeps your GST invoices and records tidy in one free app so your challan figure is ready when you need it. See GST billing software, explore the full feature list, or get the mobile app and keep your GST payments in order.