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Do I need an IEC code?
You have an order from a customer in Dubai or New Jersey, and somewhere between the sale and the post office somebody has told you about an Import Export Code. Here is what actually happens to a parcel at our warehouse, on both routes.
Why nobody gives you a straight answer
Ask this question publicly and you get two confident, opposite answers. On one Indian question-and-answer site we read while writing this page, two experts replied to the same thread: one said registration was not needed to export goods, the other that the code is a compulsory compliance for commercial purpose. Both answers sat there, unreconciled, for the next person to find.
The large shipping aggregators resolve it by not serving you. Their published requirements ask for an IEC, an AD code, a PAN and an Aadhaar before you can book anything at all; one of them adds a GST number to the list. That is a clean answer for a registered exporter and a closed door for a boutique running off Instagram.
Here is what we do.
The two ways a parcel leaves here
Everything on this page turns on which of these you are, so it is worth settling first. There are two, and we run both.
If your business is registered as an exporter
You have a GSTIN, an IEC and an AD code. Your parcel ships as your export: it goes under your own IEC, and you authorise our carrier to file the shipping bill (CSB-V) on your behalf. You pay the freight, and the commercial invoice carries your business.
If your business is not registered as an exporter
We call this the simple route, and it is the one most Instagram sellers, boutiques and small shops start on. On this route you do not export at all. Your customer abroad receives the parcel as their own, under our personal forwarding terms — the same terms any individual uses to send their own belongings home. You book the shipment here, put your own bill for the order inside the parcel, and send it to our warehouse. We weigh it, photograph it, and send your customer a link to pay the shipping. As soon as they pay, it goes, and they get tracking in your name.
How to tell which one you are, in one question
Do you hold an IEC today? If yes, you are on the registered route and your parcel ships as your export. If no, you are on the simple route, your customer receives their own parcel, and there is nothing for you to file. That is the whole test at the point of booking.
What we need from you on each route
On the registered route: your GSTIN, your IEC and your AD code, kept current, plus your own commercial invoice for the goods. On the simple route: your bill for the order inside the parcel, your customer name and email at booking, and a real description of what is inside. We prepare the customs declaration from your bill.
Where to start
Open a business account and tell us what you sell. We call every new business on WhatsApp within a working day, usually to settle exactly the question this page is about, and you are on the right route before your first parcel moves.
Questions
I sell on Instagram and I have no IEC. Can you still send my customer their order?
Yes, on the simple route. Your customer receives the parcel as their own and pays the shipping through a link we send them; you never file an export. If you later register, tell us and you move to the registered route and can pay the freight yourself.
Do I need an IEC code to export from India?
We ship on two routes: with an IEC your parcel goes as your export under a CSB-V filing, and without one your customer receives it as their own parcel.
I only ship two or three parcels a month. Does that change anything?
It changes which route is practical, not which rules exist. Low, irregular volumes are what the simple route is for.
Where are you, and does that matter if I am not in Kerala?
Our warehouse is in Kerala. You courier the parcel to us domestically from anywhere in India, at your cost, and we handle the international leg. Your location does not decide your route; your registration does.
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Send your next order
Open a business account and tell us what you sell. We call every new business within a working day, usually to settle exactly which route you are on.