Operations guide
Duty slip format: what it must contain, and why paper slips cost you money
A duty slip is the record that turns a completed trip into a billable line. In Indian corporate car rental it is the single document finance, the vendor and the client all rely on — and the single most common reason invoices get disputed.
What a duty slip is
A duty slip (also called a trip sheet or duty chart) records one vehicle duty end to end: who travelled, which vehicle and driver, when the duty started and closed, opening and closing odometer readings, and any extras such as tolls, parking or driver allowance.
It is signed or approved by the passenger at drop, and it is the source document a vendor bills against. If the slip is incomplete or illegible, the billing line behind it is unverifiable — which is exactly where month-end disputes start.
Fields every duty slip should carry
| Section | Fields |
|---|---|
| Booking | Duty slip number, date, booking / reference ID, client or company name, cost centre, billing name |
| Passenger | Guest name, mobile number, employee ID, reporting address, drop address |
| Vehicle & driver | Vehicle type, registration number, driver name, driver mobile, vendor name |
| Timings | Reporting time, start time, closing time, total hours |
| Distance | Opening KM, closing KM, total KM, garage-to-garage flag |
| Extras | Toll, parking, state permit, night halt, driver allowance / bata, waiting charges |
| Closure | Passenger signature or OTP approval, remarks, package type (e.g. 8hr/80km, airport transfer, outstation) |
Sample duty slip format
A workable paper format is a single A5 sheet in three blocks: booking and passenger details on top, timings and odometer readings in the middle, extras and signature at the bottom, with a carbon copy for the vendor.
The rule that matters more than layout: every number that will appear on the invoice — hours, kilometres, tolls, allowance — must have a box on the slip. Anything the slip does not capture becomes a line the client can refuse.
- Pre-printed serial number so slips cannot be re-issued
- Package type printed on the slip, not written in by hand
- Separate opening and closing KM boxes with the odometer photo reference
- Extras itemised individually, never as a single 'misc' amount
- Passenger approval captured at drop, not collected days later
Why paper duty slips leak revenue
- Slips reach the back office days late, so billing cycles slip and cash gets stuck
- Handwritten KM and hours cannot be checked against anything, so both over-billing and under-billing survive
- Missing signatures give clients a reason to hold entire invoices, not just the disputed line
- Extras written without receipts get disallowed at reconciliation
- Reconstructing a disputed trip three weeks later takes hours of someone's time
Digital duty slips on Fleetoz
On Fleetoz the duty slip is generated by the trip itself. The driver app records reporting, start and close times with GPS, distance comes from the tracked route rather than a handwritten odometer figure, and extras are attached with photos of the receipt.
The passenger approves the slip on their phone at drop. The approved slip flows straight into the invoice, and each invoice line links back to the trip that produced it — so a dispute is answered by opening the trip, not by hunting for a paper copy.
For corporates this means invoices arrive already reconciled against the contracted rate card. For car rental companies it means billing goes out days after the month closes instead of weeks.
Frequently asked questions
What is a duty slip in cab service?+
It is the trip record a driver closes at the end of a duty — passenger, vehicle, timings, opening and closing kilometres and extras — approved by the passenger and used as the source document for billing that trip.
What details are mandatory on a duty slip?+
At minimum: duty slip number and date, client and cost centre, passenger name and contact, vehicle registration and driver details, reporting/start/close times, opening and closing KM, itemised extras, and passenger approval.
Is a digital duty slip valid for corporate billing?+
Yes. A GPS-backed digital slip with OTP or in-app passenger approval is generally accepted as stronger evidence than a handwritten slip, because timings and distance are system-recorded and cannot be edited after closure.
What is the difference between a duty slip and a trip sheet?+
They are used interchangeably in India. Some operators use 'trip sheet' for the driver's daily log of multiple duties and 'duty slip' for the single-duty record given to the passenger.
How does a duty slip affect GST invoicing?+
The invoice is built from the slip's hours, kilometres and extras. If those are not captured cleanly, the taxable value on the invoice cannot be substantiated during an audit or a client verification.