The Indian Customs EDI System (ICES), commonly known as EDI (itself an abbreviation of Electronic Data Interchange), is a system of paperless processing of documents for import and export consignments through the computer. Under this system, the documents move from one officer to another electronically through the Computer System to eliminate paperwork, facilitate faster processing and simplify the whole procedure, thereby, consuming less time. The software package for the ICES system has been developed by the National Informatics Center (NIC) in consultation with the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

          The ICES software package accepts Customs documents electronically from the Importers, Exporters and Custom House Agents for processing by the Customs Officers. The Bills of Entry and Shipping Bills can be submitted to EDI over NICNET, the nation-wide computer network of the NIC, using the Remote EDI System (RES). Those who do not have access to RES can bring their documents to the Service Center at the Customs House for submitting the Bills of Entry/Shipping Bills into the computer system. The Remote EDI system is to be introduced in the phase II of the ICES project. At present all documents are being filed through the Service Center.