IEC, AD code and ICEGATE: setting up a first charcoal import into India
By Mohamad Sinno, Charcoal Expert · Reviewed by Budi Hartanto, shipping specialist · Last updated
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The first-import setup sequence: three steps, three different counterparties
Setting up a first import into India means three registrations with three different counterparties: the Importer-Exporter Code with DGFT, the AD code with the bank that will handle your foreign-exchange payments, and a bank-account record on CBIC's ICEGATE portal. Duty, IGST and port choice sit a level up, in importing shisha charcoal to India; this page stays on the registrations.
The IEC is a 10-character alpha-numeric number, and it is your PAN
An Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) is “a 10-character alpha-numeric number” allotted by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and since GST “IEC shall be same as Permanent Account Number(PAN)” — not a new number issued alongside it (Foreign Trade Policy 2023, para 2.05, read 12 August 2026).
Para 2.05(a) is the mandate: no import or export without an IEC unless exempted. IEC registration runs online, the DGFT process auto-generating the code on submission and the Regional Authority post-verifying it afterwards. One IEC covers every branch, division, unit and factory; only one issues against a single PAN (Handbook of Procedures 2023, paras 2.08(b), 2.08(d), 2.10(a), 2.12). Both AI Overview renders seen here on 12 August 2026 called it ten-digit.
On the import side the AD code is declared to your bank, and the bank pulls the Bill of Entry
An AD code is issued by an Authorised Dealer bank — a bank authorised to deal in foreign exchange, not the RBI and not customs. On the import side the importer declares it to that bank, which downloads the Bill of Entry from IDPMS and settles it against the outward remittance.
RBI FED Master Direction 17/2016-17 (updated as on 12 January 2026; read 12 August 2026), C.8(iii): “Based on the AD code declared by the importer, the banks shall download the Bill of Entry (BoE) issued by EDI ports from ‘BOE Master’ in IDPMS.” AD banks also create the Outward Remittance Message for import payments (C.8(i)); the importer's residual duty is documentary — keep the printed importer copy of the BoE and the acknowledgement slip (C.8(viii)).
What CBIC's ICEGATE bank-account registration covers, in CBIC's own words
ICEGATE bank-account registration covers, in CBIC's own opening line, “the registration of Bank Account(s) on ICEGATE for collection of export incentives and the declaration of banks used for making foreign remittances” (AD Code Bank Account Registration Advisory, read 12 August 2026).
The tab carries two account types — “Refund/Incentive Account” and “Foreign Remittance Account (Authorized Dealer Code)” — and each is recorded against a Custom Location, which makes the record port-specific (ICEGATE Bank Account Management user manual v1.0, §1.1). That advisory is written for one screen and addresses imports neither way; silence is not a negative answer.
The AD code is a field on the form, not a separate registration — and where the screen steps are published
Step 4 asks for “Bank Name, Branch Name, Ad Code, Bank Account Number, Custom Location, Doc Type, IRN, and Upload Proof Document”, and at Step 6 “the system will auto-populate the AD Code under IRN”. The manual's AD-code view shows Location Code, Bank Name, AD Code, Account Number and Status at Customs.
We do not re-narrate the click-path: CBIC's Directorate General of Systems and Data Management publishes it in that advisory, at the first organic position here. From our own fetch, 12 August 2026 — its HTML landing page renders navigation chrome only, so open the PDF.
What to assemble first, sorted by who asks for it: your bank, the portal, your supplier
The pack splits by counterparty: your bank issues the AD code, the ICEGATE form asks eight named fields, and your supplier issues the export documents that must match the Bill of Entry.
| What you need | Who asks for it | Note |
|---|---|---|
| The AD code | Your Authorised Dealer bank | The same bank uses it in IDPMS |
| The eight form fields, Custom Location and Upload Proof Document among them | The ICEGATE form | One record per Custom Location |
| PEB, commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, e-SKA Certificate of Origin (AIFTA Form AI for India), MSDS/SDS, Dangerous Goods Declaration with UN-spec packaging documentation, SP 978 weathering statement, per-batch COA, ISPM-15 pallet marking | Your supplier | Per shipment, to Nhava Sheva / JNPT |
That third column is what makes a coconut shell charcoal briquettes shipment specific: Coco Reina declares and ships its coconut shell charcoal as UN 1361, Class 4.2, Packing Group III. Checklist items nothing here sources — board resolution, signatory's Aadhaar, digital-signature class — are absent by choice. Our export desk issues that column.
The sequence trap: what circulates about these three steps, and what the primary documents say
Three of the most repeated claims about this sequence are stated more confidently than the documents behind them support, and one check sorts all three: who issues it, who you deal with, which paragraph says so.
| The claim as it circulates | What the primary documents say (read 12 Aug 2026) | How you check it |
|---|---|---|
| IEC, then AD code, then ICEGATE — one portal chain (SERP observation, 12 Aug 2026) | IEC mandatory (FTP 2.05(a)); the middle step is with a bank (RBI C.8(iii)); CBIC scopes the third to export incentives and foreign-remittance declaration | Which counterparty holds each step? |
| An importer cannot file a Bill of Entry without an AD code — twice, uncited, on the highest-ranking commercial guide here, a customs-broker consultancy | No primary document read says it; they say the importer declares the AD code to their bank, which downloads the BoE from IDPMS (C.8(iii)) | Look for a paragraph number |
| The AD code has a settled digit length — two published sources give different ones | The CBIC advisory, the ICEGATE manual and the RBI Master Direction state none | The sequence needs no number |
Errors that stall first entries
Most first-entry problems arrive after the registrations are complete, not during them. The one below appears nowhere on the first page of results.
An IEC has permanent validity but de-activates if it is not confirmed online every April-June
An Importer-Exporter Code has permanent validity (HBP 2.10(a), unless suspended or cancelled), yet it de-activates if the holder does not confirm its details online during the April-June window each year — including in a year when nothing about the entity changed (Foreign Trade Policy 2023, para 2.05(d) and (e)).
Against that permanence, 2.05(d) requires details updated electronically every year during April-June, and “in cases where there are no changes in IEC details same also needs to be confirmed online”; 2.05(e) de-activates an IEC not updated in the prescribed period, re-activating it on successful updation. 2.05(f) is a second trigger, not time-based: an IEC flagged for scrutiny is de-activated if the flagged risks go unaddressed. Register in February, ship in July, and “no changes” reads as nothing to do.
What you will read elsewhere: the AD code's digit length, and why this page does not state one
No primary CBIC, ICEGATE or RBI document read for this page states a digit length for the AD code, and the figures published elsewhere disagree with each other — so this page states none. Three were read: the CBIC AD Code Bank Account Registration Advisory, the ICEGATE Bank Account Management user manual, and RBI FED Master Direction 17/2016-17. We add no fourth number, and you need none — “the AD code your bank issues” carries you through. If a primary specification surfaces, it lands here as an addition, not a correction.
What this page does not establish
This page establishes what each registration step is and who it is with; it does not establish that any step can be skipped, and it deliberately states no AD-code digit length.
- No source read says a step can be skipped — an importer still needs a banking channel and an AD code to declare.
- ICEGATE account-creation prerequisites are published elsewhere, not sourced here.
- Rejection reasons — no primary document read records them.
Each statement carries its read date, 12 August 2026; policy text is amended. This is not legal or customs advice: your AD bank is the authority on your own case, and DGFT's “View IEC Related Details” service is your own check (HBP 2.09).