De-Activation of IECs and Procedure to Update IEC
De-Activation of IECs and Procedure to Update IEC
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued Trade Notice No. 30/2021-22 to provide that all IECs which have not been updated after 01.07.2020 shall be deactivated with effect from 01.02.2022. The list of such Importer -Exporter Codes (IECs) may be seen on the official website of DGFT. The concerned IEC holders are provided an opportunity to update their IEC in this interim period till 31.01.2022. The present article explains the provisions relating to the IEC and also briefs the procedure to update IEC.
Importer -Exporter Codes
Import Export (IE) Code is a ten-digit alphanumeric number registration code, mandatory and unique required by enterprises to start import or export business in India. Also abbreviated as IEC, it is issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India.
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Update IEC Yearly
All IEC holders are now legally required to update and validate their IEC Details, even if there are no changes, from April to June once every year through the online system, failing which their IEC shall be deactivated and no import or export activity will be possible.
The list of updating details in the IEC on the DGFT portal is given below.
- Change in – registered address
- Change/Add/delete – branch address
- Change of – Mobile number & Email id
- Change of – Bank details
- Change/Add/Delete – Directors/Partners
- Change of business nature
Updating IEC – Earlier Notification
DGFT requires that all IEC holders guarantee that details in their IEC are updated electronically every year during the April-June period, as per Notification No. 58/2015-2020 dated February 12, 2021, 11/2015-2020 dated July 01, 2021, and 16/2015-2020 dated August 09, 2021. (for which no user charges were to be borne by the IEC holder).
The period for updating IECs was extended up to July 31, 2021, and then to August 31, 2021, based on representations received from IEC holders who had not updated their IECs.
Deactivation of the IECs – Earlier Notification
Before the phase-wise deactivation of the IECs not updated yet, due notice was issued by Trade Notice 18/2021-2022 dated September 20, 2021, and Trade Notice 25/2021-22 dated November 19, 2021.
The third phase of deactivation of IECs that have not yet been updated has begun, in addition to the aforementioned notification(s) and Trade Notice(s), and in accordance with paragraph 2.05(e) of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
Deactivation of the IECs
- With effect from February 1, 2022, any IECs that have not been updated since July 1, 2020, will be deactivated.
- The official website of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) contains a list of such IECs.
- In this interim time, IEC holders are given the chance to upgrade their IECs until January 31, 2022; otherwise, the given IECs would be de-activated on February 1, 2022.
- Any IEC that has submitted an online application for upgradation but is awaiting clearance from the DGFT RA will be exempt from the deactivation list.
Re-Activation of IEC
It should also be noted that every IEC that has been deactivated has the option of being automatically re-activated without the need for any manual action or visits to the DGFT RA. If an IEC has to be reactivated after January 31, 2022, the holder can go to the DGFT website and update their IEC there.
After a successful update, the supplied IEC will be reactivated and the revised status will be submitted to the Customs system
Procedure to Update IEC
The procedure to update the Importer Exporter Code is explained in detail below:
- Access the official website of DGFT and select the IEC profile management option from the services list.
- From the new page, click on the “update IEC” option.
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De-Activation of IECs and Procedure to Update IEC - After clicking on “update IEC”, the login tab will open.
- Provide login details if registered. If not then register it first by putting in the required details. The user can use forgot password option also in case do not remember the password. (New password will be sent on registered mail ID)
- After login into the portal, link your IEC first if not linked yet. To link IEC OTP will go on Registered mail ID.
- After successfully linking, click on the “Update/Modified IEC option” After clicking on Update IEC, a tab will pop up which will show your IEC code details in the below manner. I
- If the user wants to change any details then change the details in their respective heads. If there is nothing to change then save every head of information.
- At the end of the process check the application summary and submit it.
- To submit the summary attach the DSC of the registered person.
After a successful update, the supplied IEC will be reactivated and the revised status will be submitted to the Customs system.
Important Points to Note
- DGFT shall be sending regular reminders to all IEC holders to update their IEC.
- If the IEC holder fails to update their IEC before the end of the Month of June, the IEC shall be deactivated and export /import transactions cannot be taken up against the given IEC.
- However, if the IEC holder wishes to re-activate the IEC, the applicant may use the steps mentioned for updating the IEC. IEC shall be reactivated on successful updating.
- If the IEC was updated in the last 365 days before June, then there is no need to update the IEX details again in this April to June period.
- No specific cost is involved in this IEC updating process.
