eBRC vs the Old Paper BRC
For years, proof that an export had been paid for came on paper, stamped at a bank branch. The eBRC replaced it. The difference is more than format.
The paper era
The Bank Realisation Certificate began life as a paper document. When a foreign payment arrived, a bank branch issued a certificate, by hand, confirming the money had been realised. Every certificate meant a request, a wait, and often a visit. The proof of your realisation lived in a folder, one sheet at a time.
What went digital
The eBRC is that same proof, issued electronically through the DGFT and tied to your Importer Exporter Code. Instead of a stack of sheets, your realisations become a record you can search, filter, and export. The certificate carries the same meaning it always did; what changed is that it is now data you can actually work with.
From bank-issued to self-certified
There were two shifts, not one. First the certificate went electronic. Then, in November 2023, the DGFT revamped the system so that exporters self-certify. Your bank now transmits each inward remittance to DGFT electronically, and you generate the certificate yourself by matching that remittance to the shipping bill, SOFTEX, or invoice it settles. The bank no longer keys the certificate for you, which is what turned a queue at a branch into a task you control end to end.
What the digital record buys you
- A ledger, not a folder. Every certificate is listed with its number and date, realised value and currency, status, and utilisation position, in one place.
- Portable proof. Download any certificate as a PDF, copy its eBRC number for a bank or DGFT portal, and export the whole ledger to Excel when an auditor asks.
- Utilisation you can see. A paper certificate could not tell you how much of it you had already claimed against. A digital one shows available balance, which is incentive money still to be claimed.
What did not change
The underlying discipline is identical. You still need the payment to be realised. You still need each remittance matched to the export it pays for. The purpose code on the remittance still has to describe the transaction, and the currency still has to line up. The eBRC modernised the certificate, not the responsibility behind it.
The practical upshot
Treat your certificates as the working record they now are. Generate them while the paperwork is warm, keep the statuses clean, and export the ledger on the rhythm your audits run. The paper BRC asked you to file sheets. The eBRC asks you to keep a ledger, and rewards you for it every time a claim window or an audit comes around.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a BRC and an eBRC?
They are the same certificate in different eras. The BRC was a paper document a bank branch issued by hand; the eBRC is its electronic form, issued through the DGFT and, since November 2023, self-certified by the exporter.
Are paper BRCs still issued?
No. Realisation certificates are now electronic and self-certified on the DGFT platform. If you need the concept from scratch, start with what an eBRC is.
Do I still need the payment to be realised?
Yes. The digital shift changed the format, not the responsibility. You still need the foreign payment realised and each remittance matched to the export it pays for, with the right purpose code and currency.
