The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued an important clarification regarding the use of Document Identification Number (DIN) in official communications, including emails sent to taxpayers and other concerned persons.
Background
Earlier, Circulars 37/2019 (05th Nov 2019) and 43/2019-Customs (23rd Dec 2019) mandated generation and quoting of DIN on specified documents, which was later expanded to all communications. This ensured authenticity and traceability of official correspondence.
However, it has come to the Board’s notice that communications issued through CBIC’s eOffice already carry an automatically generated unique Issue Number. Previously, no online utility existed to verify these Issue Numbers, hence a separate DIN was still required on such communications.
Online Verification Utility
To simplify verification, CBIC has now developed an online utility: https://verifydocument.cbic.gov.in. Taxpayers and concerned persons can use this platform to verify the Issue Number and authenticate the document. The utility provides the following details:
- File number
- Date of issue
- Type of communication
- Name of issuing office
- Recipient name (masked)
- Recipient address (masked)
- Recipient email (masked)
Responsibilities of Officers
- The name of the issuing office is captured from eOffice data.
- Other details (document type, recipient name, address, email) must be accurately entered in the metadata by officers creating the document.
- Officers must ensure correctness of this metadata before approving and dispatching communications.
Key Clarification
- For communications dispatched using the public option in eOffice, the verifiable Issue Number shall now be deemed to be the DIN.
- Quoting a separate DIN on such communications is unnecessary, preventing the presence of two different verifiable numbers (Issue Number & DIN) on the same communication.
- For all other communications not dispatched via eOffice public option, DIN continues to be mandatory.
Effect on Previous Circulars
This clarification modifies Circular 37/2019 and Circular 43/2019-Customs to the extent mentioned above.
Notification Reference: Customs
Circular No. 23/2025 -Customs
23 /09/2025