Department of Commerce is facilitating a project entitled "eTrade" among all trade regulatory and facilitating agencies like Customs, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Sea Ports, airports, CONCOR, Banks etc., to provide 24X7 electronic delivery of efficient service to Exporters/ Importers. Currently, Exporters/ Importers have to maintain multiple bank accounts at their Head Offices/ Ports, Airports etc., to handle their export-import transactions. With a view to facilitate trade, a series of meetings were held and finally at a meeting convened by the Commerce Secretary, Shri G.K. Pillai, on 20.12.2007, it was decided that all Exporters/ Importers would need to maintain only one core-banking enabled bank account at national level for transactions with any of the stakeholders for trade. This would include Customs, DGFT, Ports, airports, Banks etc. All the concerned Government agencies have been advised to facilitate e-payment using single core-banking enabled bank account of Exporters/ Importers in the country. Exporters/ Importers would declare to all the agencies their one bank account in any core-banking enabled branch anywhere in India for all payments/ receipts, including Drawback. This would come into effect throughout India from 01.04.2008.

Single core-banking account requirement for exporters/importers streamlines e-payments and receipts nationwide, including Drawback transactions with stakeholders. A national policy requires Exporters and Importers to maintain a single core-banking enabled bank account anywhere in India for all trade-related payments and receipts, including Drawback. Traders must declare that one account to all stakeholders such as Customs, DGFT, ports, airports, CONCOR and banks, and concerned government agencies are directed to facilitate e-payments to and from the declared account under the eTrade initiative.