Examine the shift from discretion-based to data/rule-based governance in India's trade administration, with examples.

Trade administration in India has historically rested on file-by-file scrutiny by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) officers. Since the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, DGFT has been expanding automated, rule-based processing [3], marking a structural shift from official discretion to system-driven entitlement.

Drivers of the shift

• Policy mandate: FTP 2023 committed DGFT to reducing transaction costs and expanding automation, replacing incentive-and-approval culture with predictable rules [1].
• Data availability: integration with DGCIS (Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics) merchandise export data made entitlement computable rather than adjudicable [2].

Examples of the transition

• Status Holder Certificates: exporters no longer apply; the IT system confers recognition annually each August using DGCIS export data and risk parameters. Earlier, an online application plus a Chartered Accountant's certificate went to a Regional Office. Coverage rose from 12,518 recognised exporters to about 20,000 [2].
• eCoO 2.0 platform: electronic filing of Non-Preferential Certificates of Origin became mandatory from 1 January 2025, with Aadhaar-based e-signing, multi-user IEC access and back-to-back certificates for merchanting trade — over 7,000 certificates daily across 125 issuing agencies [3].
• EPCG Scheme: Public Notice No. 15 of July 2024 introduced a simplified, reduced composition fee for export-obligation extension, explicitly to minimise manual intervention [1].
• Certificate Management services such as the Free Sale and Commerce Certificate follow the same automated continuum.

Critical assessment

• Gains: lower turnaround time, transparency, and reduced rent-seeking scope, since discretion is displaced by verifiable data.
• Limits: rule-based systems inherit data-quality gaps; services and deemed exports remain outside DGCIS merchandise data, so exporters must still apply manually for status upgrades [2]. Digital divide affects small exporters.

The shift replaces bargaining with entitlement, aligning trade administration with Ease of Doing Business goals. Sustaining it needs wider data integration, grievance redress for system errors, and MSME hand-holding — so that rule-based governance becomes not merely faster, but genuinely more equitable.