Date:18/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/02/18/stories/2006021803780900.htm

Back Exporters can remit licence fee thru demand drafts

K.R. Srivats

The option to use demand drafts would,however, be available only till March 31 this year, the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said.

New Delhi , Feb. 17

THE Government has given exporters the option to remit licence fee through demand drafts. Till now, the license fee could be remitted only through the electronic fund transfer (EFT) mode.

The option to use demand drafts would,however, be available only till March 31 this year, the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said.

This move of the DGFT comes in the wake of representation from trade and industry that the procedure for opening EFT accounts with the DGFT designated banks was time-consuming.

Informed sources said that exporters are finding it difficult to operationalise the EFT accounts with the branches of the designated banks in the absence of specific instructions from the head offices of the banks to their branches.

The DGFT has, however, clarified that the mandatory electronic submission of certain category of applications such as advance licence, advance licence for annual requirement, export promotion capital goods (EPCG) licence and DEPB licence (for EDI shipping bills from notified EDI ports with effect from October 1 2005) with digital signature on the DGFT Web site would continue.

While applications submitted with digital signature were entitled for a 25 per cent fee concession, those submitted with digital signature and electronic fund transfers would get a 50 per cent fee concession.