The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, has issued Trade Notice No. 15/2026-27 dated August 05, 2026 regarding the availability of license-wise voluntary duty payment details for processing Export Obligation Discharge Certificate (EODC) applications under the Advance Authorisation (AA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Schemes.
Under the new initiative, license-wise voluntary duty payment data received from Customs/ICEGATE has been integrated with the DGFT online system. The initiative is aimed at strengthening India’s trade facilitation ecosystem and promoting ease of doing business through enhanced transparency, reliability, accuracy and paperless processing of trade-related transactions.
The electronic availability of authenticated duty payment information on the DGFT portal will facilitate seamless and digital processing of EODC applications under the AA and EPCG Schemes. It is expected to reduce manual intervention and dependence on physical payment receipts, improve data accuracy and ensure uniformity in the processing of applications across DGFT Regional Authorities.
The voluntary duty payment details received from Customs/ICEGATE will be available to the concerned Regional Authorities through the DGFT Back Office Portal. The information may be accessed either through the Payment Details tab of the closure file or through the Bills Repository available in the License Room of the portal.
Authorisation holders will be able to view the payment information through the DGFT Customer Portal by accessing My Dashboard → Repositories → Bills Repositories → Select Bill → Voluntary Payment Details. The voluntary payment details will also be displayed in the print summary of the closure file immediately before submission of the EODC application.
As stipulated in the Trade Notice, only those voluntary duty payment details that are reflected on the DGFT Back Office or Customer Portal, on the basis of data received from Customs/ICEGATE, will be recognised for the processing and closure of EODC applications under the AA and EPCG Schemes.
Authorisation holders have been advised to enter accurate particulars, including the licence number and Importer Exporter Code (IEC), in the relevant fields on ICEGATE while making voluntary duty payments against an authorisation. Correct entry of these particulars is essential for accurate mapping and transmission of payment information to the DGFT system.
Applicants seeking EODC under the AA and EPCG Schemes must verify on the Customer Portal the voluntary duty payment details relating to payments made on or after 1 August 2026 before submitting their applications. Any discrepancy in the displayed information may be reported to DGFT through the prescribed support channels.
DGFT Regional Authorities have been instructed to treat voluntary duty payment details relating to payments made on or after 1 August 2026 and displayed on the Back Office Portal as the official record received from Customs/ICEGATE. Regional Authorities will rely on these electronically available details while examining and processing EODC applications.
Exporters and other stakeholders facing issues regarding the display of voluntary duty payment information may raise a ticket through DGFT Helpdesk Services → Create New Request, selecting “Other” as the category. Where the electronic record of a payment made on or after 1 August 2026 is not available in the DGFT system, the applicant may upload the payment receipt or other documentary proof while raising the ticket.
Stakeholders may also contact the DGFT Helpdesk through the toll-free numbers 1800-572-1550 and 1800-111-550, or send their queries by email to dgftedi@nic.in.
The Trade Notice can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Signed-Trade-Notice-on-Voluntary-Duty-Payment.pdf
