Doing business in India gets a bit easier

Seeking to streamline procedure for doing business, the Commerce Ministry has put in place an online system for instant generation of import-export code on submission of documents.

The move would help companies or an individual wanting to enter the trade sector. Import-Export Code (IEC) is needed for shipments.

"This is a major step towards improving ease of doing business in the country. If all the documents are in place, a trader would get the code in a few minutes. Otherwise, if there is a problem, an automatic email or an SMS would be generated and it will be sent to the concerned person," a senior official in the DGFT said.

Earlier it used to take weeks to six months to get this code, the official added.

On February 1, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) made it mandatory to submit online applications for IEC. Within a week, the DGFT has got over 2,500 applications for IEC code.

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that the move would help in reducing transaction costs for both exporters and importers.

The online submission system would also help the DGFT office to save lakhs of rupees which were spent on renting godowns to store these applications. The Delhi office of DGFT used to get about 60,000 applications per year and one application consists of about 20 pages.

The DGFT has set a checklist for its officials through which they can easily process an IEC application. For example to check PAN and DIN details, officials can verify it from the website of Income Tax Department and Ministry of Corporate Affair’s website respectively.

"The new IEC system will reduce time in grant of IEC as applications with all details and attachments will be cleared quickly. The verification of document has been provided online with authorities like Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Civil Aviation etc, which will reduce transaction time," FIEO President Rafeeque Ahmed said.

The Commerce Ministry is intensely engaged with different departments, including revenue and shipping, to reduce paper work in a bid to cut transaction cost for exporters and improve the ease of doing business.

The DGFT, under the Commerce Ministry has prepared a report suggesting various ways to improve India's ranking in the World Bank's report of ease of doing business, reduce transactions cost for exporters and boost outward shipments.

The ministry aims at reducing the number of mandatory documents from nine to three (bill of lading, invoice and shipping bill) for exports, and from ten to four for imports.

The government is aiming to improve India's overall ranking in ease of doing business index to 50th position in the next two years from the current 142nd.