Importer Exporter Code Number

Definition of IEC Code

IEC Code is unique 10 digit code issued by DGFT – Director General of Foreign Trade , Ministry
of Commerce, Government of India to Indian Companies.

Full form of IEC Code

Full From of IEC Code is : “Importer Exporter Code ”. To import or export in India, IEC Code is
mandatory. No person or entity shall make any Import or Export without IEC Code Number.

What is an IEC Certificate and who can procure it?

a. IEC stand for Import Export Code Certificate issued by the Director General of Foreign
trade registering an individual, firm, organization, entity, etc as an Exporter or Importer.

b. An IEC can be obtained by any PAN Holder desirous of conducting Exports or Imports.

What is the tenure of an IEC?

a. An IEC once issued is permanent in nature till the same is surrendered by the IEC holder or
cancelled by the Licencing Authority upon any default made be the IEC holder.

How often is the IEC required to be updated?

a. An IEC once issued needs to be updated within 90 days in the case of the following:

1. If there
is any change in the
1. Name of the IEC holder;
2. Address of Registered / Branch office / Factory address;
3. Constitution viz. Change in Directors, conversion from Proprietorship concern to Firm,
Firm to Company, Pvt Ltd to Public Ltd, change in Bank details, etc.
4. PAN Details of the IEC holder.
2. Any change is required by the Government for moving towards an Integrated One Number
Regime;

b. Upon the change being intimated beyond a period of 90 days, the changes shall be
registered by the RLA upon payment of a penalty;

IEC Code No Notification

Directorate General of Foreign Trade(DGFT) issued a Policy Circular No.15 (RE-2006)/2004-2009

Date: 27th July, 2006) for New System for issuance of Importer-Exporter Code Number.
 Eligibility, Legal Provisions and Conditions for IEC Code Number

Eligibility condition and Legal Provisions are given for IEC Code Number Application in Foreign
Trade (Regulation) Rules, 1993 Ministry of Commerce, Notification No. GSR 791 (E), dated 30-12-
1993.

Application for Grant of IEC Number

An application for grant of IEC number shall be made by the Registered/Head Office of the
applicant and apply to the nearest Regional Authority of Directorate General Foreign Trade,
the Registered office in case of company and Head office in case of others, falls in the ‘Aayaat
Niryaat Form - ANF2A’ and shall be accompanied by documents prescribed therein. In case of
STPI/ EHTP/ BTP units, the Regional Offices of the DGFT having jurisdiction over the district in
which the Registered/ Head Office of the STPI unit is located shall issue or amend the IECs.

Only one IEC would be issued against a single PAN number. Any proprietor can have only one
IEC number and in case there are more than one IECs allotted to a proprietor, the same may
be surrendered to the Regional Office for cancellation.

IEC Code Online Application Form

The application  can  be download  Form in PDF or Word. This is called "Aayaat Niryaat Form -
ANF2A". Along with IEC Code Number Application Form it is necessary to submit
Appendix-18B Attested by Applicant's Banker in his letter head with two passport size photo).

List Of Regional Authorities Of DGFT And The Corresponding Office

of Reserve Bank Of India, Exchange Control Department

You can find the list of Foreign Exchange Control Department of the RBI as given in
Appendix-18D.

Validity of IEC Code No

An IEC number allotted to an applicant shall be valid for all its

branches/divisions/units/factories as indicated in the format of IEC given in
Appendix- 18B.

Duplicate Copy of IEC Number

Where an IEC Number is lost or misplaced, the issuing authority may consider requests for
grant of a duplicate copy of IEC number, if accompanied by an affidavit.

Surrender of IEC Number

If an IEC holder does not wish to operate the allotted IEC number, he may surrender the same
by informing the issuing authority. On receipt of such intimation, the issuing authority shall
immediately cancel the same and electronically transmit it to DGFT for onward transmission to
the Customs and Regional Authorities.

Application Fee For IEC Code Number

Application Fee : Rs 250.00

Mode of Payment
: In Demand Draft of any Bank or Payment through EFT ( Electronic Fund Transfer by
Nominated Bank by DGFT Like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, UTI Bank, Punjab
National Bank, Central Bank etc) or Application fee can deposited by TR6 Challan with
Duplicate Copy in any branch of Central Bank of India and TR6 Challan need to be submit along
with IEC Code Application.

Specified fee shall be paid for making an application under any provision of the
Policy and Handbook of Procedure Volume-I.. The scale of fee, mode of payment, procedure for
refund of fee and the categories of persons exempted from the payment of fee are contained
in Appendix-21B.

Territorial Jurisdiction of Regional Authorities

Every application, unless otherwise specified, shall be submitted to the Regional Authority of
Directorate General Foreign Trade, as per the territorial jurisdiction of the Regional
authorities indicated in
Policy and Handbook of Procedure Volume-I.

Filing of Application

Application can be filed online in DGFT website, details of online links are given below.

Every application for an Import/Export licence/ certificate/ Authorisation/ permission or any

other purpose should be complete in all respects as required under the relevant provisions of
the Policy/Procedures and shall be signed by the applicant as defined in
paragraph 9.9 of the Policy. An incomplete application is liable to be rejected giving specific
reason for rejection. However in case of manual applications, the applicant would furnish a
soft copy of the application in MS word format.

Profile of Importer/ Exporter

Each Importer/Exporter shall be required to file importer/ exporter profile once with the
Regional Authority in Part 1 of ‘Aayaat Niryaat Form - ANF2A’. Regional Authority shall enter
the information furnished in Part 1 of ‘Aayaat Niryaat Form ANF-2A’ in their database so as to
dispense with the need for asking the repetitive information. In case of any change in the
information given in Part 1 of ‘Aayaat Niryaat Form ANF-2A’, importer/exporter shall intimate
the same to the Regional Authority.

Self Addressed Stamped Envelope

The applicant shall furnish a self addressed envelope of 40 x 15 cm with postal stamp affixed
on the envelope as follows for all documents required to be sent by Speed Post:

a Within local area Rs. 20.00

b Up to 200 Kms. Rs. 25.00

c Between 200 to 1000 Kms Rs. 30.00

d Beyond 1000 Kms. Rs. 50.00

IEC No: Exempted Categories

The following categories of importers or exporters are exempted from obtaining Importer -
Exporter Code (IEC) number:

1. Importers covered by clause 3 (1) [except sub-clauses (e) and (l)] and exporters
covered by clause 3(2) [except sub-clauses (i) and (k)] of the Foreign Trade (Exemption
from application of Rules in certain cases) Order, 1993.
2. Ministries/Departments of the Central or State Government.
3. Persons importing or exporting goods for personal use not connected with trade
or manufacture or agriculture.
4. Persons importing/exporting goods from/to Nepal provided the CIF value of a
single consignment does not exceed Indian Rs.25,000.
5. Persons importing/exporting goods from/to Myanmar through Indo-Myanmar
border areas provided the CIF value of a single consignment does not exceed Indian
Rs.25,000.

However, the exemption from obtaining Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) number shall not
be applicable for the export of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipments
and Technologies (SCOMET) as listed in Appendix- 3, Schedule 2 of the ITC(HS) except
in the case of exports by category(ii) above.
6. The following permanent IEC numbers shall be used by the categories of
importers/ exporters mentioned against them for import/ export purposes..

S.N Code
Categories of Importers / Exporters
o Number

All Ministries / Departments of Central  Government and agencies

1 0100000011
wholly or partially owned by them.

All Ministries / Departments of any State Government and agencies

2 0100000029
wholly or partially owned by them.

Diplomatic personnel, Counselor officers in India and officials of

3 0100000037
UNO and its specialised agencies.

Indians returning from / going abroad and claiming benefit under

4 0100000045
Baggage Rules.

Persons / Institutions / Hospitals importing or exporting goods for

5 0100000053 personnel use, not connected with trade or manufacture or
agriculture.

6 0100000061 Persons importing / exporting goods from /to Nepal

 Persons importing / exporting goods from /to Myanmar through
7 0100000070
Indo-Myanmar border areas

8 0100000088 Ford Foundation

Importers importing goods for display or use

in fairs / exhibitions or similar
events under provisions of ATA carnet This IEC number can also be
9 0100000096
used
by
importers importing for exhibitions/fairs as per Para 2.29 of HBPv1.

Director, National Blood Group Reference Laboratory, Bombay or

10 0100000100 their
authorized offices.

Individuals / Charitable Institution /Registered NGOs importing

goods,
which have been exempted from Customs duty under Notification
11 0100000126
issued by
Ministry of Finance for bonafide use by victims affected by natural
calamity.

Persons importing / exporting permissible

goods as notified from time to time, from / to China through Gunji,
Namgaya Shipkila and Nathula ports,
12 0100000134
subject to value ceilings of single consignment as given in Para
2.8(iv)
above.

Non-commercial imports and exports by entities who have been

13 0100000169
authorized by Reserve Bank of India.
Note: Commercial Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) who have obtained PAN will however be
required to obtain Importer Exporter Code number. The permanent IEC number as mentioned
above, shall be used by non-commercial PSUs.

Guidelines for Application of IEC Code Number.

Mandatory Requirements to apply for IEC Code Number

7. PAN Number
8. Current Bank Account
9. Bankers Certificate
10. IEC Code Number
Application Fee
Rs 250.00
(Expert TIP : Pay via EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer ), and submit IEC Online Application
form, If you wish to receive IEC Number instantly)
11. The physical application containing required documents should reach DGFT RLA
concerned within 15 days of its online submission.
12. E-mail is not mandatory. If it is provided it will facilitate faster communication.
Check List of Documents to apply for IEC Code
13. Covering Letter on your company's letter head for issue of new IEC Code
Number.
14. Two copies of the application in prescribed format (
Aayaat Niryaat Form ANF 2A
) must be submitted to your regional Jt.DGFT Office.
15. Each individual page of the application has to be signed by the applicant.
16. Part 1 & Part 4 has to be filled in by all applicants. In case of applications
submitted electronically.
17. No hard copies of Part 1 may be submitted. However in cases where
applications are submitted otherwise, hard copy of Part 1has to be submitted.
18. Only relevant portions of Part 2 need to be filled in.
19. Rs 250.00 Bank Receipt (in duplicate)/Demand Draft/EFT details evidencing
payment of application fee in terms of
Appendix 21B.
20. Certificate from the Banker of the applicant firm in the format given in
Appendix 18A.
21. Self certified copy of PAN issuing letter or PAN (Permanent Account Number)
Card issued by Income Tax Authority.
22. Two copies of passport size photographs of the applicant duly attested by the
Banker of the applicant.
23. Self addresses envelope with Rs.25/- postal stamp for delivery of IEC certificate
by registered post or challan/DD of Rs.100/- for speed post.

How to submit IEC Code application

Application can be submitted in person/by Authorised Employee of the Company at the R &
I counters in the office Or It can be sent by post/courier.

Processing of IEC Code Application

The application can be submitted at the counter in person at the office or it can be sent
through Post/Courier. An acknowledgement in form of a receipt having File Number is
generated on receipt of application. The file number is used for any correspondence/query
regarding the IEC application submitted to the office. The application is then sent to IEC
section where it is processed. If the application is found complete in all aspects (as per
requirements prescribed) an IEC is generated, or else a deficiency letter stating the nature
of deficiency is prepared and sent to the applicant. Replies are awaited in cases where
deficiency letter is issued and after due compliance by the applicant the IEC is allotted.

Issue and Despatch of  IEC Code

IEC allotment letter is sent through post at the registered office mentioned by the
applicant in the application. Similarly deficiency letters are sent to applicant by post.

About IEC Application Status

File No for IEC application

A new option to know the file number has been introduced for all exporter who are sending
their application through Post/Courier. The applicant has to input PAN number to get the
file number.

Status of IEC Application

The applicant can know the status of the IEC application using option “Status of IEC
Application” on the website of CLA.
IEC issued day wise
IEC’s issued daily can be viewed on the website using option “IEC issued day wise”
File No for IEC application
Applicant’s who have sent their application through post/courier can know their file
number using option “File No for IEC application”