Kamal Ghorui
Mumbai: IDFC First Bank has joined a small club of private lenders offering a unified rail for all major tax payments after going live on the ICEGATE 2.0, completing its coverage across direct tax, GST and now customs duty and moving close to the intersection of banking and trade compliance.The addition fills a gap in its tax stack by enabling digital payment of customs duty, central excise and service tax for retail and corporate users. The bank is authorised by RBI, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the ministry of finance, and now supports payments across the three main tax streams with instant challans and real-time confirmations aimed at easing compliance and reconciliation.Payments begin on the ICEGATE portal and settle through the bank’s retail and corporate internet banking channels. The system provides immediate confirmation and downloadable challans, compressing what was once a fragmented process into a single digital flow.Ashish Singh, head retail liabilities, IDFC First Bank, said, “Customs Duty payments are critical to trade velocity and business continuity. By going live on ICEGATE 2.0, we are enabling importers, exporters and businesses to meet these obligations digitally with the same ease and reliability they expect across Direct Tax and GST payments. This is a meaningful step in strengthening our role in India’s digital tax and trade ecosystem”.The addition of customs duty creates a single compliance gateway that ties statutory payments to banking rails. The portal supports year-round digital payments, aiding cash-flow planning and timely compliance. Users log in, create challans, select net banking, choose the bank, complete payment and download or print the challan.
