Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has removed the requirement of submitting physical duty payment challans while applying for Export Obligation Discharge Certificates (EODC) under the Advance Authorisation (AA) and Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Schemes.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry said that for voluntary duty payments made on or after 1st of this month, exporters will no longer be required to submit physical challans along with their applications for closure of authorisations. The Ministry said the measure is expected to speed up processing, reduce avoidable correspondence and ensure greater consistency in decision-making across DGFT Regional Authorities.

It added that replacing manual submission and verification with authenticated digital records will shorten timelines, improve data accuracy, minimise human intervention and enhance transparency. It will also reduce transaction costs and compliance burden for exporters, particularly MSMEs, by cutting documentation, follow-ups and physical interface.