According to the latest circular issued by the government, IEC is not mandatory for all traders who are registered under GST. In all such cases, the PAN of the trader shall be construed as new IEC code for the purpose of import and export.
Import Export Code (IEC) isn’t required to be taken in case the goods exported or imported is for personal purposes and isn’t used for any commercial purpose.
Export/ Import done by the Government of India Departments and Ministries, Notified Charitable institutions need not require getting Import Export Code.