DGFT & RCMC Registration

Under Foreign Trade Policy 2023, obtaining a Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) is a precondition for availing most DGFT authorisations, export promotion scheme benefits, and duty concessions. DGFT Trade Notice No. 19/2024-25 (dated 4 October 2024) reaffirmed that an RCMC is mandatory for exporters seeking scheme benefits or authorisations under FTP, except for items appearing as restricted in the ITC(HS) classification.

The RCMC is issued by the relevant Export Promotion Council (EPC), Commodity Board, or Development Authority designated as the registering authority for that product or service category, and is valid for 5 financial years from the date of issue, administered through the e-RCMC system on the DGFT portal. An exporter dealing in products spanning multiple EPC jurisdictions may register with the EPC relevant to its principal line of business, or with the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) as the residual registering authority for products without a dedicated council.

Exporters availing purely post-export remission-based schemes — specifically RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products) and RoSCTL (Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies) — are exempted from the RCMC requirement, per DGFT's clarification on post-export remission schemes. Absence of a valid, current RCMC is one of the most common reasons DGFT rejects Advance Authorisation, EPCG, and other IEC-linked scheme applications.

DGFT and RCMC registration is the exporter's administrative foundation. The Import Export Code (IEC) is the unique number issued by the DGFT under the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992 that every importer and exporter must hold — it appears on shipping bills, bills of entry, and every customs and bank document of the trade. The RCMC — Registration cum Membership Certificate — is issued by the Export Promotion Council relevant to the exporter's product, and it is the gatekeeper for many scheme benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy: Advance Authorisation, RoDTEP and EPCG benefits typically require a valid RCMC.

The IEC is a one-time registration but a permanent administrative identity — it is also the anchor for the GST refunds and drawback credits that flow through the customs system. The RCMC, by contrast, is a living certificate that must be kept valid and renewed, and its absence quietly disqualifies the exporter from scheme benefits it may have been assuming.

Exporting without the paperwork is how first shipments stall: the shipping bill cannot be filed without an IEC, the scheme benefits cannot be claimed without the RCMC, and the bank cannot process the export documents without the customs linkage. Each of these failures surfaces at the moment of maximum pressure — goods ready, vessel booked, documents incomplete.

This service is for first-time importers and exporters and for exporters whose registrations need renewal or correction. We obtain the IEC under the FT(D&R) Act 1992, identify the correct Export Promotion Council for your products and obtain the RCMC, manage renewals and updates, and link the registrations to your customs and GST operations.