IEC Registration & DGFT Consultancy — Your Export-Import Code, Handled Right

An Importer-Exporter Code is a 10-digit number (the same as your PAN) issued by DGFT that's mandatory before you can import or export anything from India — without it, customs will not clear your shipment and banks will not process your foreign trade payment. There's no minimum turnover exemption for most businesses; if you're shipping or receiving goods/services across the border, you need one.

The IEC application is fully online through the DGFT portal, costs Rs 500, and is typically issued within 1-3 working days once documents are in order. It has lifetime validity — but DGFT requires an annual update between April and June every year, and failing to update can get your IEC deactivated, which quietly blocks shipments until it's fixed.

A Registration-Cum-Membership Certificate from the Export Promotion Council relevant to your product (there are dozens — FIEO for general trade, APEDA for agri/food exports, CHEMEXCIL for chemicals, EEPC for engineering goods, and more). RCMC isn't mandatory for every shipment, but it's essential the moment you want to claim DGFT scheme benefits like duty drawback, Advance Authorization or EPCG. Since July 2023, APEDA RCMC is also processed through the DGFT portal.

Depending on how you trade: ICEGATE registration (for filing shipping bills and bills of entry electronically), an AD Code from your bank (needed for customs registration at your port), one-time registration at your primary port/airport, and a LUT filed on the GST portal if you want to export without paying IGST upfront. We sequence these correctly so a shipment isn't held up by a missing step.

Advance Authorization lets you import raw materials duty-free if they'll be used to manufacture goods for export — it removes the working-capital drag of paying duty upfront and claiming it back later. Duty drawback is the refund route instead — a rebate on customs duty already paid on inputs used in exported goods. Which one suits you depends on your cash-flow and production cycle; we assess both before recommending.

A PAN-to-bank-account name mismatch is the single most common cause — the firm's PAN and the bank certificate must match exactly, including punctuation. Bank certificates that don't follow DGFT's expected format are the second most common issue. We check both before submission, not after a rejection.

Yes — if you receive payments in foreign currency for services provided to international clients, you need an IEC, even if you never ship a physical product. Banks processing your inward foreign remittance will ask for it as part of their compliance check, so many freelancers only discover this when a payment gets held up. It's worth getting before your first international client, not after.

No — GST is not a prerequisite for IEC; you can obtain your IEC first and register for GST separately. That said, most ongoing import-export activity eventually needs both, so we typically sequence them together rather than leaving GST for later.

No — since IEC is linked to your PAN and each entity has only one PAN, you get exactly one IEC. If you operate multiple branches, they all trade under that same IEC; there's no separate registration per location.

Most NCR containerised cargo clears at ICD Tughlakabad (India's biggest dry port) or ICD Patparganj in Delhi, with ICD Garhi Harsaru covering the Gurugram side and ICD Faridabad the Haryana belt — containers then move by rail to gateway ports such as JNPT. Your bank's AD code must be registered at the specific port of clearance before your first shipment; we handle IEC, RCMC and that port registration together.

Duty drawback refunds the customs duties embedded in inputs used for goods you export. It's claimed through your shipping bill at the time of export — either at the notified All Industry Rate for your product, or via a brand rate application when the standard rate under-covers your actual duty incidence. The claim only flows if your bank account and AD code details are correctly registered at the port; we set the whole chain up so refunds don't sit stuck.

The council follows your product line: APEDA for agricultural and processed food products, the Spices Board for spices, and product-specific councils for textiles, engineering, chemicals and so on — with FIEO as the multi-product route when your exports span categories. Choosing the wrong council delays benefits that need a valid RCMC, so we map your HS codes to the right council before applying.

Advance Authorisation lets you import inputs duty-free against a commitment to export the finished product within the specified period — under FTP 2023 norms tied to your input-output ratio. It suits manufacturers with predictable export orders; the discipline is tracking the export obligation, because unmet obligation means paying back duty with interest. We handle the authorisation, norms fixation and obligation tracking.

Zero customs duty on imported capital goods (machinery) used for producing export products, against an export obligation over the following years under FTP 2023. It's the standard route for setting up or upgrading an export-oriented plant — provided the obligation math is realistic before you commit. We model the obligation against your order book first.

Status under FTP 2023 is based on FOB export performance over the current plus previous three financial years: US$3 million for One Star, US$15m Two Star, US$50m Three Star, US$200m Four Star and US$800m Five Star — with export performance now required in all three preceding years, and double-weightage available to MSMEs for reaching One Star. The e-certificate brings self-declaration and priority-handling privileges.

The APEDA RCMC is filed online, carries a government fee of Rs 5,900 (Rs 5,000 + GST), is typically issued within about two weeks, and is valid for five years. You need an IEC first. For scheduled spices, the Spices Board's CRES is the equivalent registration — filed through the DGFT e-RCMC portal; we confirm current Board fees before filing since they're revised periodically.