The Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About
Recently we conducted a market study with exporters across India, to understand the post-production operations and processes in India.
Many exporters told us that after goods are loaded and the vessel sails, it often takes several days for the freight forwarder or shipping agent to issue and dispatch the original Bill of Lading.
Most exporters are not located in port cities. The original BL has to be couriered from the port to their inland location.
Once they receive it, they courier it again, this time to the buyer in the U.S. or Europe.
Only after the buyer receives the original BL set does the payment clock start. In many contracts, payment terms are not calculated from the BL date, but from the date of receipt of documents by the buyer.
That means:
- 3 to 5 days to receive the BL from the port
- 4 to 7 days to courier documents overseas
- Sometimes 10 days or more before the buyer confirms receipt
- And only then does the 30-day payment cycle begin
For large corporates, this is an inconvenience. For SMEs, this is working capital pain.
These exporters are already managing tight liquidity cycles. An additional 7 to 10 days tied up in document transit may not sound dramatic, but across multiple shipments, it becomes significant.
So they asked us:
Why, in 2026, are we still waiting for paper for shipping documents whereas even the payment happens digitally?
On February 9, 2026, India released the draft Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 2026 for public consultation.
If implemented properly, this is precisely the kind of friction the Bill is meant to eliminate.
The question is:
- Will it?
- And more importantly, could this be the shift that finally accelerates global trade digitisation?
What India’s Digital Trade Facilitation Bill Attempts to Fix
The draft Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 2026 is not about digitising documents.
It is about removing legal ambiguity.
It gives statutory recognition to electronic trade documents
Section 5 makes it explicit:
An electronic trade document shall not be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic.
This means a digital BL, if compliant with reliability standards, carries the same enforceability as its paper equivalent.
For exporters, that means the document does not need to travel physically for the law to recognise it.
It introduces “control” as the digital equivalent of possession
This is the doctrinal shift that matters most.
Section 8 establishes that:
Control over an electronic trade document, when proven through a reliable method, confers possession with the same legal consequences as physical possession.
This is what allows:
- Digital title transfer
- Electronic endorsement chains
- Financing against eBLs
- Elimination of courier dependency
If implemented properly, an exporter in Coimbatore should not have to wait for a paper BL from Chennai port before initiating payment processes.
It enables cross-border recognition
Section 16 allows foreign trust services and identity systems to be recognised if they offer equivalent assurance.
Trade is cross-border. If an Indian exporter uses an electronic BL issued via a Singapore platform, and the buyer’s bank in Europe relies on it, both jurisdictions must recognise digital control.
Without cross-border equivalence, digitisation collapses at the first international boundary.
With it, payment cycles can compress.
Why India’s Scale Changes the Equation
India accounts for roughly 2 to 3% of global merchandise trade.
On paper, that may not sound dominant.
But scale in trade finance is not just about percentage share. It is about how many businesses feel the impact of change.
India is one of the world’s largest economies and the most populous country. The volume of trade transactions, especially involving SMEs, is enormous. When friction reduces even slightly, the effect multiplies quickly.
We have seen this before.
A decade ago, business payments in India relied heavily on cheques and manual transfers. After UPI was introduced and businesses experienced instant settlement, behaviour changed. No policy memo forced adoption. The economics did.
Once liquidity improved and delays reduced, the ecosystem adapted.
The same behavioural shift can happen in trade.
When exporters realise that digital Bills of Lading:
- Remove courier delays
- Shorten payment cycles
- Improve working capital
they will start demanding them.
Freight forwarders will respond. Buyers will push their banks. Banks will update policy once volumes justify it.
Adoption becomes market-driven.
India may not dominate global trade share. But it is a high-volume, highly connected trading economy. When a country of India’s size operationalises digital trade documents at scale, not just legally but practically, it creates ripple effects across counterparties, banks and corridors.
Acceleration does not happen because a law is passed.
It happens when millions of transactions feel the benefit.
If digitisation delivers visible liquidity gains to Indian businesses, the ecosystem will not need persuasion. It will move.
And when a market of this size moves, global adoption follows.
The Implementation Question
The Bill lays down principle. The rules will determine reality.
Three factors will decide whether this accelerates trade digitisation or becomes a well-drafted but underutilised statute:
1. Clear definition of “reliable method”
Standards must be:
- Transparent
- Auditable
- Technology-neutral
- Interoperable
If reliability is vague, high-value trades will continue printing paper just in case.
2. Technical interoperability
Legal recognition is necessary. Technical compatibility is essential.
Alignment with international standards such as ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) and UN/CEFACT semantic models will be critical.
Without shared data dictionaries and API schemas, legally recognised systems will remain unable to exchange structured documents.
Silos are legally valid, but commercially useless.
3. Ecosystem readiness
Banks, freight forwarders, customs brokers and exporters must:
- Upgrade internal systems
- Redesign custody processes
- Train teams
- Update credit and compliance policies
Legal reform removes excuses. Adoption requires operational commitment.
Venzo Perspective
We have worked with banks across the globe on trade finance modernisation.
The primary barrier has never been technology. It has been legal uncertainty.
Banks hesitated to finance against electronic BLs because enforceability in the courts was unclear. Exporters avoided digital platforms because their buyers’ banks did not accept electronic presentation.
This Bill removes that structural hesitation.
But law does not equal adoption.
Between legislative ambition and operational transformation lies execution discipline.
If India:
- Publishes clear reliability standards
- Mandates interoperability
- Aligns corridor frameworks
- And drives ecosystem adoption
then this will not merely digitise Indian trade.
It will accelerate digitisation across India-linked corridors.
Momentum in trade digitisation often begins in hubs. Acceleration begins when volume economies move.
India is a volume economy.
If execution matches ambition, this Bill will not just participate in global digital trade. It will help shape it.