E-governance journey in CBIC: Moving towards development outcomes

The 2024 WCO Technology Conference and Exhibition will be held in November in Brazil. The theme, ‘Digital Frontiers: Customs Embracing Innovation with Traditional and New Partners’, resonates with the e-governance journey in CBIC. Almost 30 years ago, in 1995, when the first bill of entry was filed electronically on the Indian Customs EDI System (ICES) at Delhi Air Cargo, few visualised it as the beginning of a paradigm shift in CBEC, as it was known then, before the advent of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Today, the ICEGATE portal—the single point of electronic data exchange between the trade, stakeholders, and the Department that extends to all EDI locations across the country—shows more than 3 lakh documents being filed weekly.