The squad stopped my truck and detained the goods — what do I do with the order in my hand?

The vehicle is parked at the check post, the driver is on the phone, and somebody has handed over a piece of paper that says the goods and the conveyance are detained. What happens in the next fortnight is decided by section 129 of the CGST Act, and almost none of it is discretionary — the section fixes who pays what, in which order, and how many days the officer has to move. Knowing the sequence is the difference between a penalty you can quantify and a negotiation you cannot.

First: there must be a served order

Detention is not a verbal instruction. The proviso to section 129(1) is short and it is the first thing to check: "no such goods or conveyance shall be detained or seized without serving an order of detention or seizure on the person transporting the goods."

So the first question at the check post is documentary, not commercial. Is there an order, in writing, served on the driver or the person in charge? The proviso asks for an order of detention or seizure served on the person transporting the goods; check that what you were handed is that order. If the order exists, take a copy of it, note the time it was served, and note the ground stated in it — the section's trigger is a contravention of the Act or the rules, and the order should say which.

This note does not quote form numbers. What matters more than the code on the paper is the content — goods, conveyance, ground, officer, date.

The penalty is set by one fact: does the owner come forward?

Section 129(1) makes the goods, the conveyance and the documents liable to detention or seizure, and then provides that they "shall be released" on one of three bases. Two of them turn on a single question — whether the owner of the goods comes forward to pay.

Where the owner comes forward, release is "on payment of penalty equal to two hundred per cent. of the tax payable on such goods" and, for exempted goods, "an amount equal to two per cent. of the value of goods or twenty-five thousand rupees, whichever is less" (s.129(1)(a)).

Where the owner does not come forward, the figure changes shape and gets worse: "penalty equal to fifty per cent. of the value of the goods or two hundred per cent. of the tax payable on such goods, whichever is higher", and for exempted goods "five per cent. of the value of goods or twenty-five thousand rupees, whichever is less" (s.129(1)(b)).

Read the two clauses together and the design is visible. Coming forward is rewarded with a tax-based measure; staying away is met with a value-based one, measured on the whole consignment and not on the tax. On a low-margin, high-value load the difference between the two clauses is not small — clause (b) measures fifty per cent of value or two hundred per cent of tax, whichever is higher, so value can drive the figure.

Security instead of payment is the third route: release "upon furnishing a security equivalent to the amount payable under clause (a) or clause (b) in such form and manner as may be prescribed" (s.129(1)(c)). The section provides this as an alternative to payment; the form and manner are as prescribed.

The clock that runs against the officer, not against you

Section 129(3) is where detained consignments are usually won or lost on procedure:

"The proper officer detaining or seizing goods or conveyance shall issue a notice within seven days of such detention or seizure, specifying the penalty payable, and thereafter, pass an order within a period of seven days from the date of service of such notice, for payment of penalty under clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section (1)."

Two periods, and they are different in kind. Seven days from detention or seizure for the notice specifying the penalty. Then seven days from the date of service of that notice for the order. Not seven days from detention for both — the second clock starts when the notice reaches you.

That structure is recent. The footnote in the section text preserves the earlier version, which required the officer to "issue a notice specifying the tax and penalty payable and thereafter, pass an order for payment of tax and penalty" — with no time limits at all. This is why older commentary describes detention proceedings as open-ended; under the present text they are not.

And before the penalty is determined, section 129(4): "No penalty shall be determined under sub-section (3) without giving the person concerned an opportunity of being heard." The section makes the hearing a condition of determining the penalty.

Paying concludes it — and the section says so

Section 129(5) is unusually final: "On payment of amount referred in sub-section (1), all proceedings in respect of the notice specified in sub-section (3) shall be deemed to be concluded."

Deemed to be concluded. Not "may be closed", not "subject to further proceedings". Once the amount under clause (a), (b) or (c) is paid, the notice is spent. The section itself says what payment does to the notice proceedings; it does not address any remedy outside the section.

If nothing is paid: fifteen days, then sale

Section 129(6) sets the consequence of inaction: where the person transporting the goods or the owner fails to pay within fifteen days from receipt of the copy of the order, "the goods or conveyance so detained or seized shall be liable to be sold or disposed of otherwise … to recover the penalty payable".

The clause that matters commercially is the first proviso: "the conveyance shall be released on payment by the transporter of penalty under sub-section (3) or one lakh rupees, whichever is less." The transporter can get the conveyance released on payment of the penalty under sub-section (3) or one lakh rupees, whichever is less.

The second proviso allows the fifteen days to be shortened where the goods are "perishable or hazardous in nature or are likely to depreciate in value with passage of time". The text says the period "may be reduced by the proper officer" for such goods.

Here too the older version misleads: the footnote to the section preserves text that ran to "fourteen days" and then to proceedings under section 130. The present sub-section says fifteen days and leads to sale or disposal, not automatically to confiscation. A checklist that says fourteen describes the text that applied before 1 January 2022.

When it escalates to confiscation

Section 130 is a different and heavier provision, and it is not automatic following a detention. It applies where a person, among other things, supplies or receives goods in contravention "with intent to evade payment of tax", fails to account for goods on which tax is payable, supplies taxable goods without having applied for registration, or uses a conveyance for carriage of goods in contravention of the Act — the last with a defence written into it for the conveyance owner who proves the use was "without the knowledge or connivance of the owner himself, his agent, if any, and the person in charge of the conveyance".

Where confiscation is authorised, the officer "shall give to the owner of the goods an option to pay in lieu of confiscation, such fine as the said officer thinks fit" (s.130(2)) — but the discretion is bounded three ways. The fine "shall not exceed the market value of the goods confiscated, less the tax chargeable thereon"; the aggregate of fine and penalty "shall not be less than the penalty equal to hundred per cent. of the tax payable on such goods"; and where the conveyance is used for hire, its owner "shall be given an option to pay in lieu of the confiscation of the conveyance a fine equal to the tax payable on the goods being transported thereon".

No confiscation order or penalty "shall be issued without giving the person an opportunity of being heard" (s.130(4)), title vests in the Government on confiscation (s.130(5)), and the officer may dispose of the goods after giving "reasonable time not exceeding three months to pay fine in lieu of confiscation" (s.130(7)).

What to do, in order

• Get the order. Copy it, note service time, read the ground stated (proviso to s.129(1)).
• Decide the release route — penalty under clause (a) if the owner comes forward, clause (b) if not, or security under clause (c) if the detention will be contested (s.129(1)).
• Diary the officer's two dates — notice within seven days of detention, order within seven days of service of the notice (s.129(3)).
• Ask for the hearing before the penalty is determined (s.129(4)).
• If you pay, get the acknowledgement and treat the proceeding as concluded under s.129(5).
• If you do not pay, plan for day fifteen — and separately, ask for the conveyance to be released on the lower of the penalty or one lakh rupees (first proviso to s.129(6)).

What not to do

Do not rely on a verbal demand. The proviso to s.129(1) requires a served order; ask for it before deciding how to proceed.

Do not let the driver "settle it" without instructions. The choice between clause (a) and clause (b) is a choice about who comes forward, and it changes the quantum.

Do not assume the detention has become a confiscation. Section 130 needs its own grounds — including intent to evade — and its own hearing.

Do not ignore a perishable consignment's shorter clock. The second proviso to s.129(6) lets the fifteen days be reduced.

Do not quote fourteen days to anyone. That is the text that applied before 1 January 2022 (Notification No. 39/2021-CT); the present sub-section says fifteen.

The short version

What to do now

• Next step: ask for the served order of detention or seizure, then choose the release route under s.129(1)(a), (b) or (c).
• Deadline: the officer's notice is due within seven days of detention and the order within seven days of service of the notice; if the amount is not paid within fifteen days of receipt of the copy of the order, the goods or conveyance become liable to be sold or disposed of.
• Consequence: sale or disposal to recover the penalty; the conveyance can be released on payment of the penalty or one lakh rupees, whichever is less.

Have a CA review your facts before you reply or file.

FAQ

The officer wants payment today, at the check post. Must we? Release follows payment or security under s.129(1), and detention requires a served order. The proviso to s.129(1) bars detention or seizure without a served order.

What is the penalty based on? On the tax payable, at 200%, if the owner comes forward; on the higher of 50% of the value or 200% of the tax if the owner does not (s.129(1)(a)–(b)). For exempted goods the section uses a percentage of value or Rs 25,000, whichever is less.

How long can the goods be held? The section does not authorise indefinite detention: notice within seven days, order within seven days of service of the notice (s.129(3)), and if the amount is unpaid, sale or disposal after fifteen days from receipt of the order (s.129(6)).

Can we get the truck back while the dispute continues? Yes — the first proviso to s.129(6) provides for release of the conveyance on payment of the penalty or one lakh rupees, whichever is less; security under s.129(1)(c) is the section's alternative to payment.

Is a detention the same as confiscation? No. Section 130 is a separate provision with its own grounds, its own hearing requirement and an option to pay a fine in lieu.

We paid. Is the matter over? Section 129(5) says all proceedings in respect of the notice "shall be deemed to be concluded" on payment of the amount referred to in sub-section (1). This note does not cover any remedy outside s.129.

Sections 129 and 130 quoted from the CGST Act, 2017 as amended to November 2025. General information about the provisions, not advice on a particular detention.

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See Also

• The e-way bill expired while the goods were still on the road
• I generated an e-way bill but the trip got cancelled — it's past 24 hours
• The truck broke down mid-route and the goods moved to another vehicle