Import Export License Online

Upon the formation of company i.e, firm/company registration, if the company plans to do any import/export activities they can apply for Import Export license online or by obtaining Import Export Code (IEC Code – Import Export License) is mandatory. Without an import-export license (IEC), the firm cannot perform any import/export activities.

Import Export License Fees

The Import Export License (IEC) is issued by the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The firm/company require obtaining the Import-Export License (IEC) from their local Foreign Trade office which is called the regional/local authorities. The following are the list of regional authorities (local authorities) of foreign trade offices in India. It is Mandatory to pay the Import Export License Fees to obtain IEC.

Sl. No. Local Authority Area Covered
1 Director General of Foreign Tade, New Delhi All over India
2 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Central Licensing Area (CLA), New Delhi Iimport export license needs to be filed by the companies located at Delhi, Haryana (Districts of Faridabad, Gurgaon), Uttar Pradesh (districts of Meerut, Ghazidabad, Bulandhashar)
3 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Jaipur IEC Code online application needs to be filed by the companies located at all districts of Rajasthan
4 Joint Director of Foreign Trade, Ludhiana Companies located at all districts of Punjab apart from Amristar, Roop nagar (rropar) and SAhibzada Ajit singh nagar
5 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Kanpur Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Uttar Pradesh apart from the places covered by JDGFT (CLA, New Delhi) and Varnasi and panipat
6 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Varanasi (UP) Application needs to be filed by the companies located at districts of varnasi, mizapur, ghazipur, azamargh, Bellia, Deoria, Gorakpur, Basti, Jaunpur, Sonebhadra, Mau and Sidharthanagar
7 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Moradabad Application needs to be filed by the companies located at districts of Bijanur, Moradabad, Rampur, Jyotiba Phuley Nagar, Barielly, Shahjahanpur, Badain and Pillibhit of UP
8 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Amristar Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Amristar district-2
9 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Chandigarh Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Himachal Pradesh, Union Teritory of Chandigarh, Ropar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh nagar and Panchkula
10 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Panipat (Haryana) Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Haryana apart from Faridabad, Gurgaon, panchkula and districts of UP (Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar)
11 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Jammu Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Jammu and Kashmir
12 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade,Dehradun Application online application (import export license) needs to be filed by the companies located at Industrial area of Patel Nagar, Dehradun
13 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Mumbai Online application needs to be filed by the companies located at All Maharastra apart from the local area of JDGFT, Pune and JDGFT Nagpur (Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli)
14 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Ahmedabad Application needs to be filed by the companies located at All Gujarat apart from local area of JDGFT Rajkot, Baroda, Surat and Development commissioner KFTZ
15 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Pune Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Districts of Maharastra (Pune, Ahmed Nagar, Jalna, Beed, Kolhapur, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad, Prabhani, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Sidhudurg and Nashik
16 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Vadora Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Districts of Gujarat (Vadora, Kheda, Panchahal and Broach)
17 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Bhopal Application needs to be filed by the companies located at All area of Madhya Pradesh apart from the places covered by JDGFT, Nagpur
18 Deputy Director General (DDG) of Foreign Trade, Panjim, Goa Application needs to be filed by the companies located at all places of Goa
19 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Rajkot Import export license needs to be filed by the companies located at Diu in the union territory of Daman and Diu and districts of Gujarat Saurashtra apart from kutch
20 1. Deputy Director General (DDG) of Foreign Trade, Raipur IEC Code online application needs to be filed by the companies located at all places of Chhatisgarh
2. Deputy Director General (DDG) of Foreign Trade, Nagpur Companies located at districts of Akola, Amravari, Buldhana, Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondiya, Hingoli Nagpur Wardha, Washim and Yavatmal. Districts of Madhya Pradesh – Balaghat, Betul, Chhindwara and Seoni
21 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Kolkata Application needs to be filed by the companies located at West Bengal, Sikkim, Tripura and Union Territory of Andaman and Nciobar
22 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Cuttack Import export license needs to be filed by the companies located at Orissa
23 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Gauhati IEC Code online application needs to be filed by the companies located at Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur
24 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Patna Companies located at Bihar and Jharkhand
25 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Shilong Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Meghalaya and Mizoram
26 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Chennai Companies located at all places of Tamilnadu apart from JDGFT – Madurai, JDGFT – Coimbatore and JDGFT – Pondicherry
27 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Bangalore Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Karnataka
28 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Kochi Application needs to be filed by the companies located at all places of Kerala apart from districts of Trivandrum, quilon, pathanamthitta and Lakshadweep
29 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Trivandrum Application needs to be filed by the companies located at districts of Trivandrum, Quilon and Pathanamthitta
30 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Hyderabad Application needs to be filed by the companies located at all places of Andhra Pradesh apart from JDGFT Vishakapatnam
31 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Coimbatore Application needs to be filed by the companies located at districts of Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Periyar, Salem, Karur and Namakkal
32 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Madurai Application needs to be filed by the companies located at districts of Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Ramnad, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Trinelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari
33 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Pobdicherry Application needs to be filed by the companies located at Union Territory of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe, Yanam and Districts of Ramaswamy Padayachiyar and South Arcot of Tamilnadu
34 Joint Director General of Foreign Trade, Vishakapatnam Application needs to be filed by the companies located at districts of Srikakulam, vizianagaram, visakapatnam, east Godavari and west Godavari

Documents required to file the Import Export License Online Application (Pre-requisite to apply IEC):

  1. ANF 2A Application (online form needs to filled using digital key from DGFT)
  2. LLPIN /CIN/ Registration Certification Number (whichever is applicable)
  3. Copy of the company PAN copy
  4. Copy of PAN of Proprietor/ Partners/ Directors/ Secretary or Chief Executive of the Society/ Managing Trustee of the entity
  5. Photo of the Proprietor/ Partners/ Directors/ Secretary or Chief Executive of the Society/ Managing Trustee of the entity
  6. NOC from other Partner/ Directors
  7. Bank Certificate in the name of applicant
  8. Applicants id proof (i.e. PAN, Aadhar card, Etc) of Proprietor/ Partners/ Directors/ Secretary or Chief Executive of the Society/ Managing Trustee of the entity
  9. Partnership deed/ Incorporation certificate/ Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association (whichever is applicable)
  10. VAT/ SSI/ RCMC/ Service tax registration (whichever is applicable)
  11. Address proof of the company (i.e. Telephone Bill, EB bill)

Detailed list of documents for different organizational category for Import Export License:

Local Authority Area Covered
In case of Proprietorship firms to apply IEC code online application (import export license)
  • Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Proprietor.
  • Copy of PAN card of the Proprietor.
  • Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card/ Driving Licence/UID (Aadhar card) (any one of these).
  • Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
  • Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A(I)/ Cancelled Cheque bearing pre-printed name of applicant and A/C No.
In case of Partnership firms to apply IEC code online application (import export license)
  • Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Managing Partner.
  • Copy of PAN card of the applicant entity.
  • Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card /UID (Aadhar Card) /Driving Licence/PAN (any one of these) of the Managing Partner signing the application.
  • Copy of Partnership Deed.
  • Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
  • Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A (I)/Cancelled Cheque bearing pre-printed name of the applicant entity and A/C No.
In case of Government Undertaking company or LLP firms or Public Limited firms or Private Limited firms to apply IEC code online application (import export license)
  • Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Designated Partner/Director of the Company signing the application.
  • Copy of PAN card of the applicant entity.
  • Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card /UID (Aadhar Card) /Driving Licence/ PAN (any one of these) of the Managing Partner/Director signing the application.
  • Certificate of incorporation as issued by the RoC
  • Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
  • Bank Certificate as per ANF 2 A(I)/Cancelled Cheque bearing pre-printed name of the company and A/C No .
In case of Society/ Trusts to apply IEC code online application (import export license)
  • Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the signatory applicant/Secretary or Chief Executive.
  • Copy of PAN card of the applicant entity.
  • Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card /UID (Aadhar Card) /Driving Licence/ PAN (any one of these) of the Secretary or Chief Executive/ Managing Trustee signing the application.
  • Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned; or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased; or latest electricity /telephone bill.
  • Registration Certificate of the Society / Copy of the Trust Deed
  • Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A(I)/Cancelled Cheque bearing pre-printed name of the Registered Society or Trust and A/C No.
In case of Hindu Undivided Firm (HUF) firms to apply IEC code online application (import export license)
  • Digital Photograph (3x3cms) of the Karta.
  • Copy of PAN card of the Karta.
  • Copy of Passport (first & last page)/Voter’s I-Card/ UID (Aadhar card)/ Driving Licence (any one of these) of the Karta.
  • Sale deed in case business premise is self-owned or Rental/Lease Agreement, in case office is rented/ leased or latest electricity /telephone bill.
  • Bank Certificate as per ANF 2A(I)/ Cancelled Cheque bearing pre-printed name of applicant and A/C No.

Procedure to apply online:

Step 1 : Need to file an application as per Aayaat Niryaat Form 2A (ANF 2A) format (http://dgft.gov.in/exim/2000/iec_anf/ANF2A.pdf) to the respective Regional / Local Authority of the DGFT as mentioned above for IEC code online application (import export license).

Action-1: Need to upload the completed IEC code online application form online at the DGFT official Website (http://dgft.gov.in/exim/2000/iec_anf/ANF2A.pdf) along with the documents required.

Action-2: Keep the scanned copy of the following in gif format ready and the gif file cannot be beyond 300 KB:

  1. Applicant’s photograph
  2. PAN (both sides)
  3. Bank Certificate

Action-3: Applicant must have a Net banking account with any one of the below listed banks

  1. HDFC BANK
  2. ICICI BANK
  3. BANK OF INDIA
  4. STATE BANK OF INDIA
  5. CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA
  6. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK
  7. IDBI
  8. UTI/AXIS BANK
  9. UNION BANK OF INDIA

Action-4: Applicant needs to go to DGFT Website (dgft.gov.in) and Click on “IEC Online Application”

Action-5: Applicant needs to enter firm’s PAN number by clicking create new IEC application by selecting ‘Create’ from ‘File’ menu.

Import Export License

Action-6: The screen will then display the ‘ECOM Reference No’.

Import Export License 2

Action-7: Applicant needs to fill in the details such as name, designation of the applicant, address, pin code, phone no, email address, date of establishment, PAN date, PAN Issuing authority, Banker Name, Bank Account Number, etc.

IEC Code Online Application

Action-8: Applicant needs to make a payment of Rs.250 through online fund transfer from the selected banks and then the following EFT acknowledgement will come.

IEC code online application 2

Action-9: Now applicant needs to upload the documents based on your entity e.g. company, sole proprietor, partnership etc, PAN card, Photograph and bank certificate (applicant would have kept all the required documents as described in documents required to obtain IEC (Pre-requisite to apply IEC) as referred action-8 screen.

Select the appropriate title to upload appropriate scan / soft copy of the docs:

  • PANC to upload PAN Copy
  • FOTO to upload Photograph of Applicant
  • BKYC to upload Bank Certificate Copy
  • MOAS to upload the Memorandum of association
  • EBRA to upload Extract of Board Resolution
  • FM32 to upload Form 32 in case of change of Directors
  • FM18 to upload Form 18 in the case of change of registered office-wherever applicable.
  • AOTH to upload any other relevant document, if required.
  • ANFP will remain to disable always.
  • NRID to upload the RBI approval letter. (Applicable in case of NRI)

Upon completion of upload and submission, applicant will receive the screen as given below:

IEC code online application 3

After submission of the IEC (import export license) code online application , your respective regional / local authorities will verify the application and its supporting, your application is accepted then your IEC will be approved. In case if your application has deficiency, then the respective office will raise the deficiency accordingly. Applicants are required to rectify the deficiency raised. Finally, once your IEC request is accepted / approved, you will receive an IEC.

Action-10: If applicant wants to modify the existing IEC then the applicant needs to follow the similar steps online. There is no online application fee in case of modification happens within 90 days of obtaining IEC otherwise the applicant needs to make the payment of INR 1000 has to be made in form of demand draft to concerned regional / local authority.

Answers for some of the most frequent questions for IEC Code

a.    Pre-requisites for IEC code online application.

Scan copy (Softcopy) of the documents are required. Accepted format of the files are only “GIF” and “PDF” format (Other file formats are not accepted to upload).

Document type Soft copy of the file type
Document type: Photograph, PAN card and passport GIF
Sale deed, Bank Certificate, Registration Certificate, Memorandum of understanding, partnership deed and declaration document PDF
Voter ID, Driving License, Aadhaar Card and Cancelled Cheque PDF / GIF

b.    Steps to upload documents for IEC code online application (import export license)

  1. Applicant needs to ensure that all details are correct and match with its documents
  2. DGFT, RA is selected as per it’s jurisdiction / location
  3. Requisite fee is deposited
  4. Create a check list and review the checklist before submission
  5. Physical Copy is signed manually by applicant and uploaded

References

IEC Code online application format can be referred at

http://dgft.gov.in/exim/2000/iec_anf/app3.pdf

Bank certificate format for IEC (import export license) Code online application can be referred at

http://dgft.gov.in/exim/2000/iec_anf/app4.pdf

Printed IEC certificates are no longer issued and the E-IEC (import export license) format can be viewed as follows:

http://dgft.gov.in/exim/2000/iec_anf/app6.pdf