DGFT eases export compliance, removes physical challan requirement for exporters

New Delhi [India], August 10 (ANI): The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has removed the requirement for exporters to submit physical duty payment challans while applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates (EODC) 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)