DGFT removes physical challan requirement

The India — Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has removed the requirement for exporters to submit physical duty payment challans when applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates (EODC) under the Advance Authorisation and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) schemes. The change applies to voluntary duty payments made on or after August 1, 2026. Duty payment data from Customs/India — Indian Customs Electronic Gateway is now integrated with DGFT's online systems, enabling authenticated verification directly against the relevant authorisation. Exporters can view payment details on the DGFT Customer Portal, and DGFT Regional Authorities can access the same records via the DGFT Back Office, eliminating manual verification. The facility is enabled through an API-based data exchange between DGFT and India — Indian Customs Electronic Gateway. The measure is expected to shorten processing timelines, improve data accuracy, reduce human intervention, enhance transparency, and lower transaction costs and compliance burden for exporters, particularly benefiting MSME exporters. A trade notice dated August 5, 2026 has been issued. This initiative is part of the government's broader digital transformation agenda for trade facilitation.