The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) vide Trade Notice No. 27/2018-2019 dated August 28, 2018 has clarified that w.e.f. August 9, 2018 (Trade Notice No. 23 dated August 8, 2018 ), provision of photograph in Importer Exporter Code Number (IEC) has been dispensed with. IEC is now PAN-based system generated code and may no longer be treated as identity card for identity purposes.
This clarification is issued in the backdrop of difficulties being faced by new IEC allottees who have printed their electronic copy of IECs without any photograph on the IECs, in obtaining Registration cum Manufacturers Certificate (RCMCs) from the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) as they are not entertaining the applications for RCMC without photographs on the IEC.
Read More at: http://www.dgft.gov.in/sites/default/files/Trade%20Notice-27.pdf