What is ICEGATE Portal? Services, Benefits, and Registration

The ICEGATE a.k.a the Indian Electronic COmmerce or Electronic Data Interchange (EC/EDI) is a portal regulated by the government of India. The ICEGATE portal provides the facility of e-filing to trade and cargo carriers and some of its clients from the Customs Department. The ICEGATE portal links around 15 broad types of partners with the customs EDI vis message exchanges that help in efficient and smooth customs clearance and EXIM Trade facilities.

Advisories

There are two advisories that were released in April and May 2019.

The Advisory released in April 2019: According to the advisory that was released on April 13, 2019, ICEGATE users will now be able to update their email ID that has been registered through the ICEGATE Portal.

The Advisory released in May 2019: According to the advisory that was released on May 3, 2019, in order to register on www.icegate.gov.in, a digital signature will not be required. IEC holders will now be able to register at ICEGATE Portal without having the need for Digital Signature.

Overview of ICEGATE PORTAL

ICEGATE is an infrastructure project for the EC/EDI department and for the requirements of data communication. The department provides various services such as shopping bills, electronic filing of the Bill of Entry, and other related electronic messages between the Trading and Customs partners via those communication facilities that are commonly used on the Internet. Manifests are filed by the airlines and shipping agents by utilizing this facility while the cargo logistics operators and the custodians use ICEGATE to communicate with the Customs EDI for information related to corgi and logistics.  Moreover, the exchange of data takes place between the Customs and some other regulating or licensing authorities like the DGFT, RBI, Ministry of Steel and DGCIS. The ECDB (Export Commodity Database) and the NIDB (National Import Database) also get serviced through ICEGATE.

All the electronic documents and messages that are handled by ICEGATE are processed by the Customs EDI System of India. This system has been running on a total of 134 locations. The department has begun the centralization of its infrastructure and all the custom locations are being shifted to an infrastructure that is converged which is hosted at the DATA Centre by establishing a link through the MPLS- based WAN.

Some Other Services

• Other than the facility of e-filing, ICEGATE also avails services such as e-payment, IPR online registration, Online verification of licenses(DEPB/DES/EPCG), the status of document tracking at the customs EDI, the status of IE Code, CHA data and links (that are PAN-based)to essential information related to Custom Business
• IT also provides the facility of a helpdesk that works 24/7 for its trading partner.
• In order to ensure Secure filing, the system utilizes digital signatures on the Entry Bills and other messages and documents that are to be handled on the Gateway.

Various benefits of the ICEGATE Portal

1. The ICEGATE Portal provides the facility to e-file for the declarations of both import and export.

2. The ICEGATEPortal allows customs to reply to importers and exporters once it has assessed the bills of entry and the shipping bills.

3. The ICEGATE Portal ensures that the declarations that are filed via digital signature will be allocated by customs, which is acting as a CERTIFICATION Authority as per the Income Tax Act and will not be taken as invalid.

Registration on ICEGATE Portal

The ICEGATE Portal provides the facility to e-file Bills of Entry, Shipping bills, and others. In order to register oneself, the individual needs to log in to the ICEGATE portal and select the registration link that is present on the home page. The form for registration on ICEGATE Portal will appear on the screen. On this form, the applicant needs to enter the required details in order to register on the ICEGATE Portal. Once the applicant has enrolled on the ICEGATE Porta, he can make the following transactions:

1. Exports
2. Imports
3. Import General Manifest (IGM)
4. Export General Manifest (EGM)
5. Consol Manifest

In order to acquire registration on ICEGATE Portal as a member, the importer or exporter or CHA will have to fill up the online membership form under Annexure B.  In order to complete the process of registration, the members will have to file and receive the required documents electronically via the Gateway on a 24*7 basis. All the operations performed are fully cost-free.

Authorized Banks

Some of the banks that are authorized to make payments through the ICEGATE Portal are listed below:

1. State Bank of India
2. Punjab National Bank
3. Bank Of India
4. Indian Bank
5. UCO Bank
6. Union Bank of India
7. Bank of Maharashtra
8. Corporation Bank
9. IDBI Bank
10. Bank of Baroda
11. Canara Bank
12. Indian Overseas Bank
13. Central Bank of India
14. Vijaya Bank

The facility to file Documents

It is possible to file documents using the ICEGATE portal for all importers, exporters, trade members, shipping agents, airlines, and Custom House Agents. Currently, the submission of documents is enabled for trade members via service centres and floppy submissions.

For RES Users: The RES package can be availed via National Information Center Portal. The procedure to file on the ICEGATE Portal is similar to the operation of the RES package a.k.a the process to create B/E and S/B. But document submission is different from ICEGATE Portal.

FOR Non-RES Users: The trading partners need to generate their messages according to the messaging guidelines. These guidelines inform the trading partner about the composition of the message, the rules for validation, and the directory information. The format of the message that is available here is quite similar to the Message Implementation Guidelines.  The generated file will have to be mailed to the respective Custom House.

Transmission Mechanism

The transmission mechanism for the submission of electronic and related messages to the Custom House has been mentioned in Annexure B. The trade members get two options to submit the documents to the respective Custom House via ICEGATE Portal. The partners choose the suitable option as per their convenience.

DIGITAL Signature Certificates

Currently, there is no need for digital signature certificates. But the DG system is aiming to implement the use of Digital Signatures in one of the messages with the trading partners.

Auto-registration Process on ICEGATE Portal

The auto-registration process does not require a digital registration certificate or any other additional document. This is easy and the steps have been listed below:

1.   Go to the ICEGATE Portal

2.   Select “Click Here” under Simplified Registration.

3.   Enter IEC(Import Export Code Number)

4.   Enter GSTIN(Goods and Services Tax Identification Number)

5.   Enter password

6.   Enter the provided captcha and click on submit

7.   Enter the unique ICEGATE ID provided to you.

a.    The ID should not be of more than 25 characters

b.   It should not have any blank spaces

c.    It should be alphanumeric

d.   It should not have any special characters

8.   Enter your email ID

9.   Enter your new Password

10.  Confirm your new password

11.  Enter the OTP that is sent to your registered mobile number and enter the Email OTP.

12.  Click on Finish afterward.

Once all the above-mentioned steps have been performed, the importer or exporter will be able to log in to the ICEGATE Portal using the provided ICEGATE ID and password. It is also possible to change the mobile number and the email id that has already been registered.

The process of auto registration on the ICEGATE portal is easy and straight and does not require much paperwork, but there is a drawback to it. The importer or exporter who has registered himself via the facility of auto-registration will not be permitted to file customs documents.

Conclusion

In this blog, we came across the ICEGATE Portal, the benefits of ICEGATE Portal, the services and facilities provided by the ICEGATE Portal and the process for auto-registration on the ICEGATE Portal.