Import Export Code Documents: The Short Checklist

For an Import Export Code (IEC), DGFT prescribes just two uploads: an address proof of the business, and a cancelled cheque with the business name pre-printed or a bank certificate. You also need the PAN of the business, and, for anything other than a proprietorship, the paper that proves the entity exists, such as a partnership deed or incorporation certificate.

Why is the list so short?

Because DGFT checks most details electronically. Your name and date come from income tax records through the PAN. Company details come from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Bank details are validated online. The Handbook of Procedures says documents are to be uploaded "unless specifically exempted by the system", so what you upload is only what the system cannot confirm on its own.

That is good for you. It also means the few documents you do upload have to be exactly right, because they are the only things a person at DGFT may look at.

What does each type of business need?

A few terms, in case they are new. An LLP is a limited liability partnership. The CIN is the company's registration number with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. An HUF is a Hindu Undivided Family, a family unit that has its own PAN, and the karta is the family member who manages it.

Along with these, keep the Aadhaar and mobile number of the person who will sign. The application is signed with Aadhaar e-sign or a Digital Signature Certificate, and DGFT sends OTPs to the applicant's mobile and email. AprilTax's own form asks for the same set: PAN card, entity proof for non-proprietors, the applicant's Aadhaar card, bank proof, address proof and a passport size photograph of the applicant.

What counts as a good address proof?

A document that shows the business at that address. The usual ones are a sale deed if you own the place, a rent or lease agreement if you do not, or a recent electricity bill.

What if the bill is in your landlord's or a family member's name? Add a no-objection letter from the owner saying the business may operate from there, and merge the two into one PDF. DGFT can also verify the address after the IEC is issued, so use the address where the business can actually be found.

What counts as a good bank proof?

The rule is specific: a cancelled cheque bearing the entity's pre-printed name, or a bank certificate in the format DGFT prescribes. Three things follow from that wording:

• The account must be the business's account. For a proprietorship, a current account in the trade name is the cleanest choice.
• The name must be printed by the bank on the cheque leaf. A leaf from a starter cheque book with no name, or with the name written by hand, does not meet the rule.
• If your cheque has no printed name, ask your branch for the bank certificate. It is a one-page letter on the bank's letterhead confirming the account holder, account number and IFSC.

What file format and size?

The Handbook only says "scanned copies to be uploaded". DGFT's help text for the IEC application is more precise: PDF only, with a maximum file size of 5 MB. So scan to PDF, not JPG. Scan in black and white or greyscale at a moderate resolution and each file will come out well under the limit. Check that all four corners and every number can be read before you upload.

A worked example

Asha and Imran run a partnership firm, Coastline Spices, from a rented unit in Kochi at Rs 18,000 a month. They want to export to the UAE.

Their file has four things. The firm's PAN. The partnership deed, as entity proof. The rent agreement, which is in the firm's name, as address proof. And a cancelled cheque from the firm's current account. Here they hit a snag: the cheque book the bank first gave them has no name printed. They ask the branch for a bank certificate instead, which costs them a day.

The government fee is Rs 500. If the electricity bill had been their only address proof, it would have been in the landlord's name and they would have needed his no-objection letter too. Checking these two points before starting saved them a rejected upload.

The mistake people usually make

They collect a thick file because a website told them to: board resolutions, photographs of every partner, GST certificates, ITRs. Then they miss the one thing that matters, which is that the name on the PAN, the bank proof and the address proof should read the same.

Look at your three documents side by side. Is it "Coastline Spices" on one and "Coast Line Spices" on another? Is the proprietor's middle name on the PAN but not on the bank account? Fix that at the bank or in the rent agreement first. A mismatch can lead to the bank detail being flagged for review, or to questions after issue, and that is when an order gets stuck.

What to do next: scan the address proof and bank proof as two clean PDFs, name the files clearly, and then start the form using our step by step guide to applying online.

Do you need all this at all?

Only if goods are going to cross the border for trade. If you sell only within India, or you only export services without claiming Foreign Trade Policy benefits, read what an IEC is and who needs one before you gather papers. And to see what the application costs, see IEC fees.

Frequently asked questions

Read next