DGFT eases export compliance, removes physical challan requirement for exporters
New Delhi, August 10
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has removed the requirement for exporters to submit physical duty payment challans while applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates under the Advance Authorisation and EPCG schemes, which may ease compliance burden and help exporters save transaction cost, as per a statement by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
The Ministry announced on Monday, the move will apply to voluntary duty payments made on or after August 1, 2026.
"For voluntary duty payments made on or after 1 August 2026, exporters will no longer be required to submit physical challans along with their applications for closure of authorisations," the release said.
With the eradication of physical submission of payment challans, exporters can view the authenticated payment details on the DGFT Customer Portal, where they verify that the payment has been correctly mapped to the concerned authorisation before filing the application, as per the release.
The Ministry further noted, " Licence-wise voluntary duty payment data received from Customs/ICEGATE has been integrated with DGFT's online systems, enabling authenticated verification of such payments directly against the concerned authorisation."
As per the release, the authenticated payment records will also be accessible to DGFT Regional Authorities through the DGFT Back Office, which will further eradicate the need for manual verification.
"The replacement of manual submission and verification with authenticated digital records is expected to shorten processing timelines, improve data accuracy, minimise human intervention and enhance transparency in the closure process," it said.
The facility has been enabled through an API-based data exchange between DGFT and ICEGATE, allowing duty payment details to be electronically transferred from Customs systems to DGFT's EODC processing workflow. Replacing manual submissions and verification with authenticated digital records is expected to reduce processing time, improve data accuracy, minimise human intervention and enhance transparency in the closure process, the Ministry noted.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Good move by the government, but I wish they had done this sooner. We lost a whole quarter once because our bank challan wasn't uploaded properly by a courier service. Digital integration with ICEGATE is the way forward. Hope the system doesn't glitch on day one though—fingers crossed! 🤞
As a trade consultant working with Indian exporters, this is a welcome change. The old system was a bottleneck, especially for SMEs who didn't have dedicated compliance teams. E-governance initiatives like this are what will truly boost ease of doing business in India.
Good step but let's be honest—the real problem is the complexity of the entire EODC process itself, not just the challan submission. We've been waiting for a closure certificate for over 6 months now. Digital records help, but the DGFT needs to reduce the overall pendency backlog too. Otherwise, this is just a Band-Aid fix.
It's great to see the Ministry finally walking the talk on digital India for exporters. The API-based integration with ICEGATE sounds promising. For small exporters like us in Jaipur, every rupee saved on compliance costs matters. Just hope the portal remains user-friendly and doesn't require a computer science degree to navigate! 😄
This is a solid reform. I've seen the pain exporters go through in India when dealing with multiple agencies. Removing physical documentation is aligned with global best practices. Kudos to the commerce ministry for listening to industry feedback. Now, if they could also streamline GST refunds, that'd be fantastic!
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