What is ICEGATE and what services does it offer?

What is ICEGATE?

ICEGATE stands for Indian Customs and Central Excise Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange (EC/EDI) Gateway. The EC and EDI requirements of the Customs and Central Excise departments are met by ICEGATE. It is used by traders, cargo service providers, and other clients of the department. These are collectively known as trading partners.

Apart from the trading partners, ICEGATE is also used for communication and documentation between the department and other regulatory and licensing bodies. There are a variety of functionalities offered by ICEGATE, which are outlined below:

ICEGATE enables the following:

• Electronic filing of Bill of Entry (declaration of import)
• Electronic filing of Shipping Bill (declaration of export)
• E-payment of customs duties
• Common signer utility for signing all customs documents
• Submission of supporting documents online through eSanchit
• Electronic IGST refund
• Internal correspondence with partner agencies such as the RBI, banks, DGFT, DGCIS, ministries, and directorates, and other government agencies
• Manifest filing by airline and shipping agents
• Handling of all electronic documents and messages before they are further processed by the Indian customs EDI System (ICES)
• 24-hour help desk facility extended to trading partners

Registration in ICEGATE is done for export, import, Import General Manifest, Export General Manifest, and Consol Manifest. A single ICEGATE registration suffices for transactions at all or any EDI customs port. Documents can be uploaded to ICEGATE through email or as an attachment in one of the specified formats.

Benefits of ICEGATE

ICEGATE offers some unparalleled benefits to exporters, such as:

• ICEGATE registration is essential for filing any export/import-related document online
• Through ICEGATE, exporters/importers can view the status of their online document and follow its trail through the document tracking system
• Exporters/importers will be informed on their registered email ID about the acknowledgment of Shipping Bill, Bill of Entry, etc.
• Through ICEGATE, trading partners can raise a query and receive a reply on the same
• Exporters/importers can file an online Shipping Bill, Bill of Entry, or other such documents in ICEGATE from any email ID, but they will need to have a valid ICEGATE ID to receive query replies and other outbound responses

Registering with ICEGATE

An exporter can register with ICEGATE by logging onto the ICEGATE website and clicking on the Login/Sign-up link under the ‘Our Services’ section. New registrations consist of the following steps:

• Enter the ICEGATE and email IDs and check their availability
• Select the user role, which has options such as customs broker, airline, shipping line, shipping agent, etc. (apart from, of course, IEC holder)
• Enter the IEC and verify
• The details of the exporter will be exported from the ICES
• Select the photo ID and upload the same
• Upload the digital certificate and click the CONFIRM button
• An OTP will be sent to the registered email id, upon submission of which the registration will be completed
• After the registration process is done, exporters will have to wait for their registration request to be approved by the department.

Simplified Registration

The simplified registration process allows the IEC holder to register with ICEGATE based on IEC and GSTIN. Additionally, OTP verifications for e-mail addresses and mobile phone numbers are required. This process does not need one to upload DSC and other formalities like PAN verification, document upload, and approval procedure.

Select the ‘Simplified Registration’ tab on the home screen and enter the IEC, GSTIN, and password. Then provide the email ID and mobile number and confirm the password. An OTP will be sent to the mobile number and email ID. After verifying these, the auto IEC registration process is complete.

Shipping Bill submission

Shipping bills are submitted online on the ICEGATE web portal. While generating a Shipping Bill, the exporter will need the IEC number (or customs house agent number) and the authorised dealer code. Once the exporter receives a ‘Let Export’ order, the shipping bill can be generated.

To track the shipping bill on the ICEGATE portal, select the location and enter the Shipping Bill number and date. This process can also be followed for tracking manual Shipping Bill on the ICEGATE portal.

You can also read:

• Understanding Customs Sampling of Export Goods
• Steps Involved in Loading of Export Goods
• What are the post-shipment banking activities in the export business?
• Post-Shipment Activities Involving C&F agents in Export Orders
• 9 Documents Generated in Post Export Shipment Banking Activities