Import Export Code (IEC) Registration

A unique business identification number from the DGFT required to import or export from India. It's now linked to your PAN, so the PAN effectively serves as the IEC.

Any person or business importing goods into, or exporting goods or services from, India — including e-commerce sellers shipping abroad and anyone receiving foreign trade payments.

The IEC is issued against and linked to your PAN. In practice the PAN-based IEC is what's used; we handle the DGFT registration that establishes it.

There's no return, but the IEC must be confirmed/updated on the DGFT portal each year, and the window is April to June. Paragraph 2.05(d) of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 says that where there are no changes in IEC details, that also needs to be confirmed online — so a quiet year is not an exempt year. Paragraph 2.05(e) then de-activates an IEC that is not updated within the prescribed period. The annual updation carries no government fee.

PAN, a business bank account with a cancelled cheque or banker's certificate, address proof of the premises, the signatory's Aadhaar/DSC, and constitution proof for companies/LLPs/firms.

Commonly between one and seven working days once details validate cleanly. We can't guarantee an exact time as issuance rests with the DGFT.

Usually an AD code registration with your bank/customs and, to claim scheme benefits, an RCMC from the relevant Export Promotion Council. We guide both.

Yes — ₹500. Appendix 2K of the Foreign Trade Policy sets the application fee for an Importer-Exporter Code at five hundred rupees, and it is paid to the DGFT, not to us. The same appendix sets the fee for the annual April–June updation at Nil. We show both separately from our professional fee.

Only half true, and the missing half is the expensive half. Paragraph 2.10 of the Handbook of Procedures 2023 gives an allotted IEC permanent validity unless suspended or cancelled, and there is no renewal application to file. But the same paragraph adds that an IEC can be de-activated under paragraph 2.05(e) of the Foreign Trade Policy — which is what happens if you miss the mandatory April–June update. So: no renewal, no expiry date, but a compulsory annual confirmation that most 'lifetime validity' write-ups leave out.

Complete the updation on the DGFT portal. Paragraph 2.05(e) provides that an IEC so de-activated may be activated on its successful updation, and the annual updation itself carries a Nil fee under Appendix 2K. De-activation for a missed update is not a cancellation and there is no fresh application to make — though the policy notes it is without prejudice to any other action for a separate violation. If the de-activation followed a risk flag under paragraph 2.05(f) rather than a missed window, the flagged issue is what has to be resolved.

The rule reads differently for services. Paragraph 2.05(a) of the Foreign Trade Policy says no export or import of goods shall be made without an IEC unless specifically exempted, and that for export of services or technology, an IEC shall be necessary on the date of rendering services for availing benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy. So a services exporter who wants FTP benefits needs the IEC in place by that date. Banks and buyers frequently ask for one in any case. We'll look at your specific arrangement rather than guess.

Not on the same PAN. Paragraph 2.12 of the Handbook of Procedures allows only one IEC against a single PAN, and that one IEC covers all branches, divisions, units and factories — including SEZ, EOU, EHTP, STP and BTP units. If you no longer want to operate an allotted IEC, paragraph 2.13 lets you surrender it online, but only once all authorisations and obligations attached to it have been closed or transferred.

No. Exports of goods or services are excluded from turnover when an enterprise is classified as micro, small or medium under the MSME notification, so only your domestic turnover is tested. An exporter can scale abroad and hold its category. The Udyam registration page sets out the current investment and turnover bands and how the composite test works.