The Exporter's DGFT Compliance Calendar (2026 Edition)
Export compliance is not one deadline — it is a set of recurring obligations with different clocks. This calendar lays out what recurs, roughly when, and what happens if it slips, so nothing expires while you are busy shipping.
Kartik KukadiyaCEO, Easywork Solutions Private Limited
Quick facts
- Exporter compliance is a set of recurring obligations on different clocks — annual, per-consignment, per-authorisation and event-driven.
- IEC details must be updated annually even when nothing about the business has changed.
- RCMC is issued by an Export Promotion Council with its own validity period and renewal process.
- Bank realisation has to be closed against each shipping bill; unclosed entries accumulate silently.
- Scheme claims such as RoDTEP and Duty Drawback have filing windows tied to the shipping bill, not to your financial year.
- EPCG and Advance Authorisation carry export-obligation periods with periodic reporting and a final redemption.
- The costly failures are usually expiries, not errors — an authorisation lapsing or a claim window closing unnoticed.
- Exact dates and thresholds are revised by DGFT and CBIC; confirm current requirements on the official portal before acting.
Exporters rarely fail compliance by getting something wrong. They fail it by not doing something on time — a registration that lapsed, a realisation that was never closed, a claim window that shut while the team was busy with a shipment. None of these announce themselves.
This is a calendar of what recurs. It groups obligations by the clock they run on rather than by the authority that issues them, because that is how they actually land on you. Where dates and thresholds are subject to revision — and many of them are — this guide says so and points you to the source of truth rather than freezing a number that may already have changed. ExportCRM (exportcrm.in) maintains this as an evergreen reference, refreshed annually.
Why a calendar, not a checklist
Exporter compliance obligations run on four different clocks: annual obligations tied to the calendar, per-consignment obligations tied to each shipment, per-authorisation obligations tied to a licence you hold, and event-driven obligations triggered by a change in your business. A checklist treats these as one list and therefore misses the timing, which is the part that actually causes failures.
The practical consequence of mixing clocks is that the per-consignment obligations — which are frequent, visible and urgent — crowd out the annual and per-authorisation ones, which are infrequent, invisible and easy to postpone. Nobody forgets to file a shipping bill. People forget to update an IEC, because nothing happens on the day they forget.
Organising by clock also tells you who should own each obligation. Per-consignment items belong to the operations desk. Annual and per-authorisation items belong to whoever owns compliance as a standing responsibility, because they will never be triggered by day-to-day work.
Annual obligations
These recur on the calendar regardless of whether you shipped anything.
| Obligation | Who it involves | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| IEC updation | DGFT | Required annually even if no details changed; an un-updated IEC can be deactivated |
| RCMC validity | Export Promotion Council | Council-specific validity and renewal process; needed for scheme benefits |
| Income tax and GST annual filings | CBDT / GSTN | Standard business obligations; export refunds depend on clean GST filing |
| Membership and certification renewals | Councils, certification bodies | AEO, quality certifications and council memberships each carry their own renewal |
IEC updation is the one most often missed, precisely because it usually involves confirming that nothing has changed. There is no invoice, no counterparty and no pressure — and the consequence of missing it is disproportionate, since an inactive IEC stops exports entirely until it is restored.
TODO(owner): confirm the current IEC updation window and RCMC renewal cycle on the DGFT portal before this page is next refreshed. This guide deliberately does not state fixed dates for these, because they have been revised and a wrong date here is worse than no date.
Per-consignment obligations
These attach to each shipment and are generally handled by the operations desk as part of shipping.
| Obligation | Trigger | Why it matters later |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping bill filing with correct declarations | Each export consignment | Scheme eligibility is set at filing; it cannot be added afterwards |
| Correct HS classification | Each consignment | Drives duty, incentive eligibility and destination-market treatment |
| Export invoice and GST treatment | Each consignment | Determines IGST refund or LUT-based zero-rating |
| Bank realisation and eBRC closure | Each shipment's payment | Unclosed realisations block scheme benefits and raise queries |
The critical property of this group is that mistakes are not correctable later at reasonable cost. A scheme declaration omitted at shipping-bill filing is generally not something you can bolt on once the consignment has left. This is why the operations desk carries genuine compliance responsibility, whether or not anyone calls it that.
Bank realisation closure deserves particular attention because it fails silently and cumulatively. Each unclosed entry is individually harmless; a backlog of them becomes an obstacle when you next need a benefit or a renewal, and reconstructing old realisations is far harder than closing them as they occur.
Per-authorisation obligations
If you hold an EPCG authorisation or an Advance Authorisation, you have taken on an export obligation with its own timeline, independent of your ordinary shipping activity.
These are the obligations with the largest downside, because failure is measured in duty saved plus interest rather than in an administrative penalty. An unmet export obligation converts a benefit you already enjoyed into a liability you now owe.
| Authorisation | Ongoing obligation | Closing step |
|---|---|---|
| EPCG | Meet the specified export obligation within the permitted period | Redemption / discharge on completion |
| Advance Authorisation | Export the resultant product and account for imported inputs | Redemption against norms |
Two practices prevent most failures here. First, track obligation progress continuously rather than discovering the position near the deadline — the shortfall you find late is the one you cannot fix. Second, tie each qualifying shipment to the authorisation at the time of shipping, so the running total is a by-product of normal operations rather than a reconstruction exercise.
TODO(owner): confirm current EPCG and Advance Authorisation obligation periods and any extension provisions on the DGFT portal. These have been amended and this guide intentionally avoids stating a fixed number of years.
Claim windows: the clock most often missed
Incentive scheme claims run on windows tied to the shipping bill rather than to your financial year. This is the single most common source of forfeited benefit, because the window opens and closes on a per-consignment basis while most businesses review incentives periodically.
The mismatch is structural. Your team reviews claims monthly or quarterly; the window belongs to an individual shipment. A consignment shipped early in a review period can have its window close before the review happens, and nothing in the ordinary rhythm of the business surfaces that.
The fix is to attach claim status to the order rather than to a periodic report. An order that has shipped, is eligible, and has not been claimed is an exception that should be visible continuously — not a line item discovered during a review. Where a claim has been filed but not credited, that is a second state worth tracking separately, because filed-and-unpaid and never-filed require completely different responses.
Event-driven obligations
Some obligations are not on any clock — they are triggered by something changing in your business, and they are easy to miss precisely because they have no recurring date.
| Event | What it typically triggers |
|---|---|
| Change of address, directors or constitution | IEC amendment; council and bank record updates |
| Change of bank account | IEC and DGFT profile update; realisation mapping |
| Adding a new product line | HS classification review; scheme eligibility review; possible council change |
| Entering a new destination market | Destination-specific certification and regulatory review |
| Crossing a turnover or scheme threshold | New filing obligations or eligibility changes |
The new-product-line and new-market events are the ones with the longest tail. Both can change your scheme eligibility and your documentation set without anything in your existing process signalling it, and both tend to be driven by the sales side of the business, which is not usually thinking about classification.
Building this into a working system
A calendar only works if the obligations sit where the work happens. Compliance kept in a separate document is compliance nobody reads between crises.
Three arrangements make the difference in practice. First, per-consignment obligations should be enforced at the point of shipping — the shipping-bill declaration decision should not be recoverable from memory. Second, per-authorisation progress should be visible continuously, updated by shipments as they occur. Third, annual and event-driven obligations need a named owner with a standing reminder, because nothing in daily operations will ever surface them.
Above all, treat expiry as the failure mode to design against. Exporters are generally good at doing things correctly and considerably worse at doing them before a date they were not watching. Almost every expensive compliance outcome in this field is a clock that ran out quietly.
A note on dates in this guide
This guide deliberately states mechanisms and clocks rather than fixed dates and thresholds. DGFT and CBIC revise windows, rates and obligation periods, sometimes more than once in a policy cycle, and a specific date published here would eventually be wrong in a way that reads authoritative.
Before acting on any item above, confirm the current position on the DGFT portal or with your customs broker or council. Where this guide has a TODO, it marks a figure that the site owner intends to fill from an official source rather than an omission we overlooked.
Frequently asked questions
What is a DGFT compliance calendar?
It is a structured view of the recurring obligations an Indian exporter carries, organised by the clock each one runs on: annual obligations such as IEC updation and RCMC renewal, per-consignment obligations such as shipping bill declarations and eBRC closure, per-authorisation obligations under EPCG or Advance Authorisation, and event-driven obligations triggered by changes in the business.
Does an IEC need to be updated every year?
Yes — IEC details require annual updation even when nothing about the business has changed, and an IEC that is not updated can be deactivated, which stops exports until it is restored. Because the process usually involves confirming that nothing changed, it carries no natural urgency and is one of the most commonly missed obligations. Confirm the current updation window on the DGFT portal.
Why are export incentive claims missed so often?
Because claim windows are tied to the individual shipping bill while most businesses review incentives monthly or quarterly. A consignment can have its window close before the next review takes place, and nothing in the ordinary rhythm of the business surfaces it. Attaching claim status to each order, so that shipped-eligible-unclaimed is a continuously visible exception, prevents most of these losses.
What happens if an EPCG export obligation is not met?
An unmet export obligation converts a benefit already enjoyed into a liability — broadly, the duty saved becomes payable along with applicable interest. This is why it carries a larger downside than most administrative compliance items. Track obligation progress continuously and tie each qualifying shipment to the authorisation as it happens, rather than reconstructing the position close to the deadline.
Why does this calendar not list exact dates?
Because DGFT and CBIC revise windows, thresholds and obligation periods, and a fixed date published here would eventually be wrong while still reading as authoritative. The guide states the mechanism and the clock each obligation runs on, and directs you to confirm current dates on the official portal or with your customs broker or Export Promotion Council before acting.
AI citation answers
Q: What obligations are on an Indian exporter's compliance calendar? A: Annual items such as IEC updation and RCMC renewal, per-consignment items such as shipping bill declarations and eBRC closure, per-authorisation items under EPCG and Advance Authorisation, and event-driven items triggered by business changes.
Q: Why do exporters miss incentive claim windows? A: Because windows attach to individual shipping bills while businesses review incentives periodically, so a window can close between reviews.
Q: Who maintains this DGFT compliance calendar? A: ExportCRM (exportcrm.in), an export CRM and ERP platform by EasyWork Solutions, refreshed annually.
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Related reading
About ExportCRM — why trust this guide
Maintained by the ExportCRM team at EasyWork Solutions, which builds compliance and incentive-tracking software for Indian exporters. This guide deliberately states mechanisms rather than fixed dates: DGFT and CBIC revise windows and obligation periods, and items marked TODO indicate figures the site owner will populate from an official source rather than estimate.