IEC Registration: How Indian Exporters Get an Import Export Code

The Importer Exporter Code is the single registration that makes a legal export shipment possible from India — without it, a shipping bill cannot be filed and an inward remittance cannot be booked against an export. It is issued by the DGFT against your PAN, costs INR 500 (roughly USD 6), and is system-generated online. The part most first-time exporters get wrong is not the application; it is the annual update obligation that quietly deactivates the code if you ignore it.

What an IEC is, and who legally needs one

An IEC is a ten-character code issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992. Since 2017 it is PAN-based: your IEC and your PAN are the same alphanumeric string. The Handbook of Procedures is explicit that only one IEC shall be issued against a single PAN, and it covers all branches, divisions, factories and units of the entity — you do not apply separately for a second plant or a second state.

You need an IEC if you intend to export or import commercially. Customs will not let you file a shipping bill without one, and your bank will not process an export remittance without one on file. The exemptions are narrow: Government ministries and departments use permanent notified codes, individuals importing or exporting for genuine personal use are exempt, and so is small-value border trade with Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and China below specified thresholds. If you are reading this as a business, you need the code.

The IEC has permanent validity. It does not expire and does not need renewal in the ordinary sense. It does, however, need updating — which is a different thing, and is covered below.

Documents you actually need

The list is short; failures happen on details rather than missing papers. Everything is uploaded as PDF, maximum 5 MB per file.

Keep an active mobile and email that belong to the firm. DGFT sends OTPs, deactivation warnings and reminders to whatever is on record, and recovering a login tied to a consultant who has moved on is slow and avoidable.

The application, step by step

1. Register on the DGFT portal. Go to dgft.gov.in, choose Register, and select "Importer/Exporter". Verify mobile and email by OTP. This login will later hold your IEC, e-BRCs, RCMC and scheme applications.
2. Start "Apply for IEC". From the dashboard, select Services > IEC > Apply for IEC. The system issues a draft reference (ECOM) number — note it, because you can return to a part-filled application for a limited period.
3. General information. Enter PAN, nature of concern (proprietorship, partnership, LLP, private limited, HUF, society, trust), category of exporter and registered address. PAN details are validated against the Income Tax database in real time, so the name and date of incorporation must match exactly.
4. Proprietor, partner or director details. Add each person with PAN and, for companies, DIN — verified against MCA data.
5. Bank details. Enter the current account number and IFSC and upload the cancelled cheque or bank certificate. This account becomes the reference point for your AD bank linkage.
6. Other details. Select preferred export sectors and confirm the purpose of the application.
7. Declaration and signature. Accept the undertaking, then sign either with a Class 3 Digital Signature Certificate or with Aadhaar-based e-Sign. Aadhaar e-Sign works for any firm type once PAN and date of birth are validated; on the DSC route, an individual-based DSC is accepted only for proprietorships, while companies, LLPs and partnerships need an organisation-based token, plus the eMBridge utility running on the same machine.
8. Pay INR 500. Payment goes through the Bharatkosh gateway (net banking, card or UPI, depending on what is offered). The fee is per Appendix 2K of the Handbook of Procedures.
9. Download the e-IEC. Once payment is confirmed the IEC is system-generated, intimated by email and SMS, and downloadable from your dashboard. Where the system flags a mismatch, the file goes to the jurisdictional Regional Authority for manual scrutiny; DGFT publishes no fixed turnaround for those, so track it on the portal.

The annual update — and what happens if you miss it

This is the obligation that catches established exporters, not new ones. Every IEC holder must confirm or update their IEC details electronically once a year, between April and June, even where nothing has changed. There is no user charge. The requirement sits in the Foreign Trade Policy and has been enforced through DGFT trade notices under Notifications 58/2015-2020 and 11/2015-2020.

If you do not update within the window, the IEC is deactivated. It does not fail politely — it fails at the port, when your CHA cannot file the shipping bill, usually with a container already booked. The one mercy is that reactivation is automatic: log in, complete the update, and the IEC is reactivated without manual intervention, with the status pushed to the Customs system. There is no penalty fee, but nothing compresses the time that status takes to propagate while a vessel is waiting.

Four mistakes that cause rejection or deactivation

• Name and address that do not match PAN and GST. The DGFT record, the PAN record, the GST registration and the bank account should carry the same legal name and the same principal place of business. Any drift between them shows up later as a failed IGST refund or a stuck shipping bill.
• Applying for a second IEC. Firms that restructure or open a new unit sometimes apply again. Only one IEC is issued per PAN, so a duplicate application is rejected. Add units and branches as amendments instead.
• Address proof in someone else's name with no NOC. A rented factory or a shared office is fine — an electricity bill in the landlord's name with no owner NOC attached is not.
• Contact details belonging to a consultant. When the OTPs go to a number you do not control, you cannot do the April–June update, cannot file an amendment, and cannot self-certify e-BRCs. Move the registered mobile and email to the firm before you need them.

How IEC connects to the rest of your export setup

The IEC is the first link in a chain, not a standalone licence.

AD bank and AD code. Your Authorised Dealer bank branch issues an AD code, which must be registered at every port, ICD or air cargo complex you intend to ship from. Without AD code registration at that specific port, the shipping bill will not go through — and the AD code registration is validated against your IEC. If you ship from Nhava Sheva and Mundra, you register at both.

ICEGATE. Customs filing, shipping bill status, duty payment and IGST refund tracking all run through icegate.gov.in, keyed to your IEC. Register there with the same entity details; a DGFT-to-ICEGATE mismatch is tedious to unpick.

e-BRC. Once an export payment lands, your bank uploads an Inward Remittance Message and you generate and self-certify the e-BRC yourself on the DGFT portal, against your IEC. The timing rules are moving: the realisation period reverted to nine months from the date of export with effect from 05-06-2026 (FEMA 23(R)/(8)/2026-RB), and the new FEMA Export and Import Regulations, 2026, effective 01-10-2026, set 15 months for goods and services and 18 months where the export is invoiced or settled in Indian Rupees. Confirm the applicable period for your shipment date with your AD bank.

RCMC. A Registration-cum-Membership Certificate from the relevant Export Promotion Council is filed electronically on the DGFT common digital platform, and your IEC details are auto-populated and authenticated from the DGFT record. You need the RCMC before you can claim most benefits under the DGFT export schemes, so a stale or deactivated IEC blocks the RCMC too.

GST and refunds. Exports are zero-rated. You either export under a Letter of Undertaking without paying IGST, or pay IGST and claim refund — in the second case the refund is processed off the shipping bill, so the IEC, the GSTIN and the bank account must all agree. This is where casual data entry becomes expensive.

Certificate of Origin. Since Public Notice 01/2026-27 dated 07-04-2026, all authorised agencies must accept applications and issue Certificates of Origin only through trade.gov.in; manual issuance outside the designated electronic platform is no longer permissible. Your IEC-linked login is the entry point. See our guide to the Certificate of Origin.

With the IEC in hand, settle your product's tariff line and your commercial terms next — see HS code classification and Incoterms 2020. Fees and thresholds change by notification; verify current figures on the DGFT portal before you file.

Where OZIANT and ZJELL fit

OZIANT is a B2B cross-border marketplace that connects overseas buyers with verified Indian suppliers, so once your IEC and AD code are in place you have somewhere to put them to work. ZJELL Limited, the group's export consulting arm, handles registrations and compliance filings — IEC applications and amendments, the annual update, RCMC and scheme paperwork. If you would rather hand the filing over, contact the team.