AD Code, BRC & eBRC: Getting Paid for Exports from India

An export doesn’t finish when the container leaves Mundra or when the courier hands the parcel to FedEx. It finishes when the foreign currency actually lands in the exporter’s bank account in India, gets reconciled by the bank, and a Bank Realisation Certificate (BRC) is generated. Three connected pieces of Indian trade plumbing make that happen: the AD Code, the inward remittance, and the eBRC. Get any one of them wrong and your GST refund, RoDTEP scrip, and shipping-bill closure all stall.

How an Indian export payment actually moves

For any export out of India, four parties are in the loop: the exporter (you), your bank (the “Authorised Dealer” or AD bank, typically the one where you hold a foreign currency account), the customs port (ICEGATE), and DGFT. The flow looks like this:

• You ship the goods and file a Shipping Bill on ICEGATE.
• The Shipping Bill carries a 14-digit AD Code that points customs to a specific bank branch.
• Your overseas buyer remits the invoice value in foreign currency to that bank.
• The bank confirms receipt of funds and pushes an eBRC to DGFT.
• DGFT uses the eBRC to close the export transaction in its records, which is what unlocks downstream benefits like RoDTEP and IGST refund.

If the AD Code on the Shipping Bill is missing or wrong, the bank can’t reconcile the incoming money to your shipment, and the loop never closes.

Step 1: AD Code registration at the port

AD Code stands for Authorised Dealer Code. It is a 14-digit identifier that your bank allots for a specific customs station (port, ICD, air cargo complex, CFS). One bank can have multiple AD Codes — one per port where you ship from.

What you actually do:

• Ask your AD bank branch to allot you the AD Code for each port you plan to use.
• Submit a small set of documents: IEC copy, cancelled cheque, KYC, and a request letter.
• The bank certifies the AD Code on its letterhead and uploads it to the customs ICEGATE portal.
• You then quote this AD Code on every Shipping Bill filed from that port.

Common pitfall: shipping from a new port without first registering the AD Code. The Shipping Bill will be filed, but the export will appear “unrealised” forever in DGFT’s eyes. For handicraft exporters working through multiple hubs — say, a Moradabad brass unit shipping via ICD Tughlakabad and a Jaipur block-print unit via Jaipur Air Cargo — register AD Codes for each location upfront.

Step 2: Receiving the foreign currency

Once the goods are on the water (or in the air), the buyer pays you. The payment has to come into the AD bank whose code is on the Shipping Bill, and in a permitted currency and route under RBI’s Master Direction on export of goods and services. A few practical points:

• Timeline: RBI expects export proceeds to be realised within the period allowed under the contract (typically nine months, extendable on application). If funds don’t come in, the bank reports the shipment as “overdue”, which complicates your future shipments.
• Currency: the buyer can pay in any freely convertible currency, including USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, JPY. Many Indian handicraft buyers in the US, EU, UK, Australia, and Japan settle in USD or EUR.
• Mode: SWIFT wire is the standard. Payment links, escrow, and even partial advances are allowed, but they must be properly documented through the AD bank.
• eFIRC: the bank now issues an electronic Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (eFIRC) on receipt. This is your first proof that money has landed.

For small handicraft consignments — a few hundred kilos of Kashmiri papier-mâché or a pallet of Channapatna toys sold on platforms like Amazon Handmade, Etsy, or Faire — many Indian exporters use the same AD bank account but treat each shipment as a separate invoice to keep the trail clean.

Step 3: BRC and eBRC — proof that money came in

The Bank Realisation Certificate (BRC) is the bank’s formal confirmation that the exporter has received the foreign payment against a specific Shipping Bill. In the pre-2012 era it was a physical paper certificate. Today it is the eBRC — generated electronically and pushed by the bank to the DGFT portal.

Why the eBRC matters:

• IGST refund: customs and GST authorities use the eBRC to confirm the export actually realised, before refunding IGST paid on inputs.
• RoDTEP benefits: the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products scrip is calculated and issued against realised eBRCs in DGFT’s system.
• Export obligation closure: if you’ve availed any export-linked benefit (EPCG, Advance Authorisation), eBRC is what proves you fulfilled your obligation.
• Trade history and credibility: a clean eBRC track record builds your reputation with banks (easier foreign exchange access), with the EPCH (Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts), and with overseas buyers who may want proof of regular shipments.

The exporter’s role is mostly to reconcile: log in to DGFT, view the eBRCs pushed by the bank against each Shipping Bill, flag any mismatches, and use the realised eBRCs as the basis for incentive claims.

Verify the current format, threshold, and any updated field names for eBRC and AD Code registration directly on the DGFT portal (dgft.gov.in) and with your AD bank, since these interfaces get revised periodically.

Quick checklist for a first-time handicraft exporter

• Obtain IEC (10-digit Import Export Code) from DGFT.
• Open a current account with an AD-authorised bank, ideally one experienced in trade finance.
• Get your AD Code registered for every customs station you’ll use.
• Register with EPCH (Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts) to access handicraft-specific export benefits, trade fairs, and buyer connects.
• Ensure the Shipping Bill carries the correct AD Code, IEC, and HS code for your product (e.g., brassware, wooden decor, textiles).
• Track the eFIRC when the remittance arrives and the eBRC when the bank uploads it to DGFT.
• File RoDTEP and IGST refund claims using realised eBRC data.

Why this matters for craft exporters specifically

Handicraft shipments are often small, high-SKU, and shipped in mixed consignments. That makes clean documentation per Shipping Bill even more important — a single missing AD Code or unlinked eBRC can hold up refunds across many invoices. The EPCH and the DGFT services portal are set up to help craft exporters handle this volume, but only if the underlying AD Code, remittance, and eBRC chain is intact.

Through GreenFlip India’s trade desk, exporters plug into the wider GreenFlip network (greenflip.org) for overseas buyer demand, while the back-office work — IEC, AD Code, eBRC, RoDTEP, IGST refund — is handled on the Indian side in line with DGFT, CBIC, and EPCH norms.

Bottom line

For an Indian handicraft exporter, AD Code registration is the entry ticket that ties your shipment to your bank, the inward remittance is the foreign currency actually arriving, and the eBRC is the digital proof that closes the export loop on DGFT. Get all three right and your GST refunds, RoDTEP scrips, and trade history fall into place; get any of them wrong and you carry “unrealised” shipments that block future business.

Note: This guide is general information for planning, not legal, tax, or customs advice. Indian trade rules change — always confirm current requirements on the official portal (DGFT, ICEGATE/CBIC, the GST portal, or BIS) or with a licensed customs broker before you ship.