Import Export Code

July 23, 2019

Import Export Code

What is an Import Export Code?
Import Export (IE) Code is a registration required for persons importing or exporting goods
and services from India. IE Code is issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade
(DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India. IE Code application
must be made to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade along with the necessary
supporting documents. Once, the application is submitted, DGFT will issue the IE Code for
the entity in 15 – 20 working days or less.

Validity of Import Export Code?
IE Code registration is permanent registration which is valid for life time. Hence, there will
be no hassles for updating, filing and renewal of IE Code registration. It is valid till the
business exists or the registration is revoked or surrendered. Further, unlike tax registrations
like GST registration or PF registration, the importer or exporter does not require to file any
filings or follow any other compliance requirement like annual filing.

Who does not require having an Import Export code?
An Import Export Code is required for import of any type of goods by a business. However,
the following are categories of persons are exempted from obtaining an IE Code:-
 Importer and export by central government or agencies or undertakings for defense
purpose or other specified list under Foreign Trade (exemption from application of
rules in certain cases) Order, 1993.
 Import or Export of Goods for personal use.

RCMC Registration

Persons having import export code can apply for and obtain RCMC registration. Registration-
Cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) is a certificate that validates an exporter dealing with products registered with an agency/ organization that are authorised by the Indian
Government. The certificate is issued for five years by the Export Promotional Councils or
commodity board in India. An exporter desiring to obtain an RCMC has to declare his
mainstream business in the application. This application would be submitted to the Export
Promotion Council/ Commodity Board relating to that line of business.

–> Steps to Apply for Import Export Code

Step 1: Go to the Government website of DGFT
(Directorate General of Foreign Trade)
i.e.www.dgft.gov.in

-The first step involves going to the website addressed www.dgft.gov.in.

Step 2: Go to the Services tab which is located on
the horizontal section of the buttons.
The horizontal button bar that you see at the top contains a button named “Services”.
Click on it. A drop-down menu will be displayed. In this Drop Down menu, an “IEC”
option will appear.

– If you take your mouse pointer over IEC the following tabs will be displayed.
 Online IEC Application
 View your IEC
 IEC Status at Custom
 IEC Help

Step 3: Click on Online IEC Application

After clicking the Online IEC Application button, you will see the following page.

– Now in the “PAN” option, please enter the PAN Card Number of the Proprietor
or of an Entity in case of an Entity firm.
– Once you have entered the PAN Card number, select the “NEXT” option.
– Now enter your “Mobile Number” (without a zero or country code) and “Email
ID”.
– Enter the given “Captcha” code as it is in the empty box given right below the
Captcha and click on the “Generate Token” option.

Step 4: Enter the relevant details

-In this step, you will get the field where you will have to enter the person’s name (in
case of a proprietor) or the company’s name (in case of other legal entities). Also, enter
the date of birth of the person (in case of a proprietor) or the date of incorporation of the
legal entity (in case of other legal entities).

Step 5. One Time Password (OTP) Verification Process.

– Enter your Mobile number, Email ID and the Captcha on the box below and click
the “Generate OTP” Button to receive an OTP.

– After receipt of the OTP, enter the same in each of the respective boxes provided
separately, one for the “Mobile OTP” and another for the “Email OTP” and click
on the “Submit” option.

Step 6. Update Entity Details

– Now a new page will open, entitled as “Importer Exporter Code (e-IEC)” which
shows an E-com Number on the left-hand side of the page. This number will be
used for all the future references regarding your IEC application.

– After coming on this page fill in all the entity details. The entity here is the
business entity. The details include the Business name, address, Date of Birth (in
case of proprietorship)/ Date of Incorporation, Nature of Concern, preferred
activity and bank details.

– After this fill in the applicant details like Name of Applicant, Designation,
Applicant Address, Applicant mobile number, Applicant email address, PAN
number, Date of Submission and Place of Submission.

Step 7. Add Branch Details

– After that click on the second option, “Branch” on the upper side of the same
page.

– Branch details of the proprietorship/ company shall be filled. Once you fill all the
relevant details click on “ADD”. If there is no Branch Office Keep the space
empty.

Step 8: Fill-up the Director/Partner details.

– Go on the upper side of the tab and click on Director/Partner, etc. Now fill all the
required details of any of the Director/ Proprietor/ Partner/ Karta/ Managing
Trustee. All the required information for example, the PAN number, and mobile
number should belong to the person whose details you are filling. Once all the
relevant options are being filled please click on “ADD”.
Note: If one of the above-mentioned Director/ Proprietor/ Partner/ Karta/ Managing
Trustee is a foreign national you have to add 000000 in the address details.

Step 9: Attach the scanned copies of the necessary documents.

– Now click on step 3 which is uploading the required documents. Like Address
proof, bank’s certificate/cancelled cheque. Also, choose the document type like
PDF or GIF.

Step 10: Fee Payment.

– Now go on the upper hand side of the page and click on fee payment. The
following page will open up.

– Here enter amount Rs. 500/- as the Government IEC application fee and click
on Submit.

– Thereafter complete the payment by choosing any one of the Credit/Debit Card,
Net Banking and Wallets payment facility. After successfully completing the
payment come back to the same Page. Choose “Verify Pay” and verify the
payment which you have just made.

Step 11: Preview and Print application.

After you have done all the above steps you can now preview and print your application.
You can print this application for your official purposes. Here all the details you have
filled in will be displayed for checking. If you want to change any details you can go
back and make the necessary changes. This is what the starting looks like.

– This is what the ending of the page looks like. Below the Form, a Checklist is
being displayed. In the checklist, please make sure that all the conditions
mentioned here have been complied with. For example, please make sure whether
the details of the applicant filled in the application form are as same as that in the
uploaded copy of the documents.

Step 12: Submission.

– In this step, the above-mentioned E-com number will be displayed along with it.
The DGFT Office concerned will be auto selected and displayed accordingly.
Click on proceed further. After this, a new page will open which will have
“Submit and Generate IEC Certificate”.

Note that, earlier a Class 2 Digital Signature was compulsory for Submitting the
Application online. However, according to a Latest Notification, they have done
away with this requirement and now you can submit the Application without a
Digital Signature Certificate (DSC).

– This is the final step in the process. After which your IEC certificate will be
generated

Hi :) My name is Muskan Agarwal. I am very headstrong and go getter in whatever i do. I work as a paralegal in the team and try to bring value in my work.

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