India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade has taken a significant step towards automation by eliminating the need for physical duty payment challans in export obligation applications, streamlining export certification processes through digital integration with customs data.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade has moved another step towards paperless compliance by scrapping the need for physical duty payment challans in applications for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates under the Advance Authorisation and Export Promotion Capital Goods schemes. According to the DGFT notice, licence-wise voluntary duty payment data will now flow directly from Customs and ICEGATE into the department’s online system, allowing regional authorities to verify payments electronically instead of relying on paper documents.
The change matters because an Export Obligation Discharge Certificate is the document that confirms an importer-exporter has met the export commitment attached to an authorisation. Under Advance Authorisation, firms can import inputs duty-free for goods meant for export, while EPCG permits concessional or nil customs duty on capital goods in return for meeting an export target over time. DGFT said exporters can check in the customer portal whether their payments have been mapped correctly before filing, while voluntary duty payments made on or after August 1, 2026 no longer require a physical TR-6 challan.
The move comes after a period of broader tightening and clearing of backlogs in the redemption process. A separate industry report said DGFT extended a special drive until May 31, 2026 to speed up issuance of pending EODCs, after a March campaign significantly reduced the queue. Another update said the department also extended the export obligation period for certain Advance Authorisations and EPCG licences until August 31, 2026, offering relief to exporters hit by supply-chain disruption and shipping-route stress.
Even with the new digital workflow, exporters still need to ensure their records line up with customs data. Guidance published by DGFT advisers has repeatedly pointed to common causes of rejection in redemption cases, including mismatches between import and export documents, incomplete paperwork, missed deadlines and non-compliance with scheme conditions. Earlier clarification also noted that some older authorisations, especially those issued before December 1, 2020, could still be handled through manual or physical filing routes, underlining that the shift to fully electronic processing remains phased rather than absolute.
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