DGFT Advances Paperless Trade Services With FTFS Central Processing Unit

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Dated: 04.11.2026

DGFT Advances Paperless Trade Services With FTFS Central Processing Unit

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is establishing a Central Processing Department (CPD) at its New Delhi headquarters to administer, monitor and govern the new Faceless Trade Facilitation System (FTFS).

A move toward faceless, paperless trade services

The FTFS is designed to enable faceless, paperless and jurisdiction-free processing of trade-related applications. Its initial rollout will cover DGFT’s four Zonal Offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, including officials from Section Head through Additional DGFT involved in the application-allocation chain.

The system aims to make application handling more consistent and efficient by reducing dependence on physical documents and local jurisdiction. A central administrative structure is being created to support oversight while retaining a distributed implementation model across the zonal offices.

Central Processing Department: role and responsibilities

The CPD will function as a separate division under DGFT Headquarters and will be led by an Additional DGFT. Its remit combines operational administration, performance oversight and applicant grievance management.

Key responsibilities include:

FTFS administration: Managing administrative functions for the FTFS within DGFT’s Back Office system.
Performance inputs: Recommending FTFS-related performance parameters for Annual Performance Assessment Reports (APARs) and supplying APAR inputs for officers working under the system.
Leave monitoring: Maintaining and monitoring leave records for FTFS officers so that applications are not allocated to officers who are unavailable. Regional Authorities will continue to approve leave, but must notify the CPD of officers’ leave status.
Grievance resolution: Handling applicant grievances, including those submitted through CPGRAMS and CRM tickets.
Application oversight: Reviewing processing patterns and intervening where data suggests potential delays or quality concerns.
Resource optimisation: Coordinating with the C-NeST team to make effective use of available capabilities and resources.

Data-led monitoring of processing quality

A central feature of the CPD’s mandate is monitoring how applications move through the FTFS. The department will conduct weekly meetings with officers whose files are auto-forwarded in more than 20% of cases and may recommend appropriate action.

It will also review the reasonableness of Deficiency Letters where an application receives more than two such letters. Officers who issue more than two Deficiency Letters in over 20% of their allocated applications will be identified and sensitised. These measures are intended to strengthen accountability, reduce avoidable back-and-forth with applicants and improve consistency in decision-making.

Compact 19-officer structure

The CPD will have 19 officers under the overall supervision of the Additional DGFT:

1 Additional DGFT
2 Joint DGFTs
4 Deputy DGFTs
4 Assistant DGFTs/FTDOs
8 Section Heads

This compact structure is intended to provide focused central governance without displacing the distributed processing model in the four participating zonal offices.

Rollout and system readiness

DGFT’s existing EGTF Division will continue to maintain the Back Office system. The division is to prepare the system for a demonstration before the Director General of Foreign Trade in the first week of November 2026, followed by launch of a User Acceptance Testing (UAT) version for the four Zonal Offices.

After approximately ten days of UAT operations, the CPD and EGTF Division will hold a user review to identify and rectify system deficiencies. The improvements are intended to be completed before the FTFS is launched nationwide by the Hon’ble Commerce & Industry Minister.

By combining jurisdiction-free processing with central performance monitoring and structured grievance handling, the FTFS is positioned to modernise DGFT’s trade-application services while improving transparency, continuity and operational accountability.

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Source: DGFT

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