DAP (Delivered at Place)
/glossary/dapIncoterms 2020 any-mode rule: seller delivers on the arriving vehicle, ready for unloading, at the named place.
DAP is the Incoterms 2020 any-mode rule. The seller delivers when the goods sit ready for unloading on the arriving truck at the named place, such as a Lucknow PIN. The buyer unloads and clears import. The seller clears export and pays carriage. RP Sales quotes ex-warehouse Kanpur unless the PO writes DAP plus PIN. For a DAP line, budget GST at 18% extra; the tax invoice applies the rate in force.
In detail
DAP (Delivered at Place) is an Incoterms 2020 any-mode rule. The seller delivers, and risk transfers, when the goods sit at the buyer's disposal on the arriving means of transport, ready for unloading, at the named place of destination. The seller clears export and arranges carriage. The buyer unloads and, where applicable, clears import. DAP is not FOR, not DPU, and not DDP.
What DAP is, and what it is not
DAP is one of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. The ICC wallchart retrieved 2026-09-05 lists seven any-mode rules: EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, and DDP. The four sea and inland-waterway rules are FAS, FOB, CFR, and CIF. Write the rule as DAP (named place of destination) Incoterms 2020.
The ICC Digital Library rule text states that the seller delivers the goods and transfers risk when the goods are placed at the disposal of the buyer on the arriving means of transport ready for unloading at the named place of destination, or at the agreed point within that place. Delivery and arrival at destination are the same.
The seller is not required to unload. If the seller incurs unloading costs under its contract of carriage, the seller is not entitled to recover those costs separately unless the sales contract says so. DAP requires the seller to clear export, where applicable. The seller has no obligation to clear import, pay import duty, or carry out import customs formalities.
DAP is not EXW. Under EXW, the seller makes the goods available at the named place without a loading obligation. DAP is not DPU; DPU adds unloading by the seller. DAP is not DDP; DDP adds import clearance by the seller. DAP is not FOR. The eleven-rule Incoterms 2020 list excludes FOR.
Who should use DAP, and who should not
Use DAP when the seller will arrange carriage to a named destination and the buyer will unload. A Lucknow fabricator, a Patna JJM site, or a Bareilly sugar mill can write DAP plus PIN when they want the truck at their gate and will crane the bundles themselves.
DAP suits any mode, including a road truck from Kanpur and a multimodal move that later uses rail. Name the place: factory gate, rail siding, or bonded yard. A city name alone is not a place of delivery.
Do not use DAP for a Bartan Bazar pickup. That handover is EXW Kanpur or a defined yard collection. Do not use DAP when the seller must unload; that is DPU. Do not use DAP when the seller must clear import; that is DDP.
Do not use FOB Kanpur Goods Yard for a road or rail terminal handover. Sea and inland-waterway transport is the scope of FOB. Use DAP, FCA, or a plain domestic delivery clause that states loading, carriage, risk, and unloading.
DAP versus EXW, DPU, DDP, and FOR
Normalise the handover before comparing rupees. The table uses the ICC 2020 any-mode rules plus the domestic FOR label Kanpur buyers write on POs.
| Term | Delivery point | Who arranges carriage | Who unloads | Import clearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXW named yard | Seller premises, not loaded | Buyer | Buyer after collection | Buyer |
| DAP named PIN | Arriving vehicle, ready to unload | Seller | Buyer | Buyer |
| DPU named PIN | Named place, after unloading | Seller | Seller | Buyer |
| DDP named PIN | Arriving vehicle, ready to unload | Seller | Buyer | Seller |
| FOR Kanpur or destination | Named origin station, yard, or delivery place | FOR clause names the booking party | FOR clause names the unloading party | Domestic GST, not import |
The ICC Academy DAP or DDP note (25 February 2025, retrieved 2026-09-05) states that under DAP the seller delivers and transfers risk once the goods are at the agreed place, ready for unloading, still loaded on the arriving vehicle. The buyer unloads and handles import clearance. FOR stays off that list because it is not an Incoterms 2020 rule.
How to specify DAP on a pipe RFQ
Write DAP plus a PIN code, not DAP India or DAP site. Within 4 working hours, RP Sales responds with a technical and commercial DAP offer tied to the receiving PIN. Quotes stay ex-warehouse Kanpur unless the PO writes DAP plus the receiving PIN.
- Rule: DAP (named place) Incoterms 2020. Edition year on the PO.
- Place: street, PIN, gate, and the agreed point inside that place (dock, crane pad, rail siding).
- Goods: process, grade, OD, wall or class, length, quantity, end finish, coating, MTC, IBR / TPI as on the RFQ.
- Unloading: buyer crane or labour. Seller unloading is DPU, not DAP.
- Insurance: DAP gives the seller no obligation to insure. State cargo cover on the quotation if required.
- Documents: invoice, packing list / dispatch challan, MTC, e-way bill, Form III-B if the line is an IBR tube, TPI release if named.
- Tax: budget the DAP line with GST 18% extra; the tax invoice applies the rate in force. Import duty is a buyer cost where DAP is used on an inbound lot.
- Notice: seller notifies arrival so the buyer can take delivery. Buyer gives the point and time inside the named place when the contract allows that choice.
Worked mass example for a DAP lot
For the DAP material line, theoretical plain-end steel mass uses W = (OD − t) × t × 0.02466 kg/m, with OD and wall in millimetres. Freight is a separate dated carrier quote; this page does not publish a corridor rate.
A DAP quote for a larger bore reads the same table on a different row. Take 100 NB Medium IS 1239 from the site class chart and pipe-weight table: OD 114.3 mm and wall 4.5 mm. W = (114.3 − 4.5) × 4.5 × 0.02466 gives 12.18 kg/m, or 73.1 kg for a 6 m length and 7.31 MT for one hundred lengths before coating or threading.
At the 24 May 2026 MS ERW price list band, 100 NB Medium is ₹51-57 per kg ex-warehouse Kanpur, GST 18% extra. For 7.31 MT, the material subtotal is about ₹3.73 lakh to ₹4.17 lakh before GST and freight (7.31 × 51,000 = 372,810; 7.31 × 57,000 = 416,670). A DAP Lucknow PIN offer adds the seller's carriage to that material figure. Compare the offers only when both use 7.31 MT and the same PIN.
The freight-calculation guide treats corridor rupees as a worksheet, not a live RP Sales rate. Collect a dated carrier or supplier quote for the actual PIN, vehicle, and unloading access. The glossary lead-time entry gives the named DAP move a 3-7-day stock-dispatch window before carriage. Ask the quotation to state the stock dispatch date for the named DAP PIN.
Common DAP mistakes on pipe orders
The first failure to watch for is writing DAP Kanpur when the buyer will collect at Bartan Bazar. That handover is EXW or a defined yard collection. DAP needs a destination place.
The second failure is treating DAP as freight included with seller unloading. The buyer unloads. If the site has no crane, write DPU or a domestic clause that names the crane.
The third failure is a city label without a PIN. Freight inside Varanasi or Patna changes with the drop point. The ICC rule text tells parties to specify the destination place or point as clearly as possible because risk transfers there.
The fourth failure is using FOB for a truck from Kanpur. FOB applies only to sea or inland-waterway movements. Use DAP, FCA, or a plain road clause.
The fifth failure is assuming DAP includes import clearance on an inbound lot. Import sits with the buyer. If the seller must clear import, the rule is DDP.
Standards and compliance for DAP
Incoterms 2020 is the ICC rule set. The wallchart retrieved 2026-09-05 names eleven rules in two groups. DAP sits in the any-mode group with EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DPU, and DDP. The wallchart is a map; the rule book governs.
ICC Digital Library A2: the seller must deliver by placing the goods at the disposal of the buyer on the arriving means of transport ready for unloading at the agreed point, if any, at the named place of destination, or by procuring the goods so delivered, on the agreed date or within the agreed period.
A5: the seller has no obligation to the buyer to make a contract of insurance. B2: the buyer must take delivery when the goods have been delivered under A2. B7: where applicable, the buyer carries out and pays import formalities.
For a registered person moving taxable goods inside India, CGST Rule 138 generally requires e-way-bill information when the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000, subject to the rule's exemptions and applicable state requirements. That threshold is already cited on the freight guide. DAP does not replace the e-way bill.
Buying DAP delivery from Kanpur
RP Sales quotes from the Bartan Bazar / Basanti Nagar (208014) yard. A DAP line names the receiving PIN, not the origin yard. Intra-Kanpur drops to Panki (about 12 km), Dada Nagar (about 8 km), and Jajmau (about 10 km) still need a street and gate. Those short runs are still named places.
PWD and JJM bidders should read the BOQ. If the bidder carries freight risk, obtain a current quote for each site before submission. Sugar mills in the Kanpur-Unnao-Bareilly belt and hydraulic shops around Panki should state crane access and receiving hours.
RP Sales sends DAP loads daily from Kanpur to named delivery points across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi NCR, and Uttarakhand. Steel pipes in Lucknow, steel pipes in Patna, steel pipes in Varanasi, and steel pipes in Agra describe city delivery. The Kanpur steel market page is the origin context.
A DAP offer is not a promise of timing. The glossary lead-time entry lists stock departure in 3-7 days. Carrier transit starts from the agreed handover event.
Unloading, GST, and import on a DAP truck
The buyer unloads. Tell the supplier about crane capacity, road width, and gate hours before the vehicle is booked. A failed delivery attempt adds cost without changing the steel.
Domestic DAP from Kanpur to a UP or Bihar PIN is not an import. That domestic DAP line carries GST at 18% extra as the budgeting basis; the tax invoice applies the rate in force. The e-way bill travels with the truck. Import DAP is a different fact pattern: the buyer still clears import.
If the seller's carriage contract already includes a terminal unloading charge, the ICC rule text says the seller cannot recover that charge separately unless the sales contract says so. Write the crane line on the quotation so the two parties do not argue at the gate.
Photograph visible transit damage before unloading changes the condition. Keep the transporter acknowledgement with the claim record. Risk has already transferred once the goods sit ready for unloading at the named place.
DAP versus FOR destination on UP tenders
Kanpur POs often say FOR destination when the buyer means seller-arranged road freight to site. That phrase is not DAP and sits outside the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules. If the parties want the ICC risk rule, write DAP plus PIN Incoterms 2020.
If the parties want a domestic clause, write the named place, who loads at Bartan Bazar, who pays freight, who unloads, and which document proves handover. That clause can sit beside GST and the e-way bill without using an Incoterms letter set.
A PWD or JJM delivered-rate BOQ should match the pipe quotation. If the BOQ is per running metre delivered, the DAP or domestic delivered clause must use the same PIN and unloading duty. Comparing an EXW Kanpur rate with a delivered BOQ produces a false saving.
See FOR (Free On Rail), EXW, and freight from Kanpur. Send the PIN with the RFQ.
Documents at the named place
The arriving pack is the commercial invoice, packing list / dispatch challan, MTC, e-way bill, TPI release if named, Form III-B when the line is an IBR tube, and Form III-C when the line is a mounting or fitting. The site clerk matches those papers to the bundles before the crane starts.
ICC A6 on related carriage rules expects the usual transport document when customary. For a Kanpur road truck that document is the lorry receipt or e-way bill plus challan, not a bill of lading. For a rail leg it is the railway receipt.
A complying DAP delivery still fails site acceptance if the grade is wrong. The Incoterms rule allocates carriage and risk. It does not inspect wall thickness. Put the technical list on the PO and, if payment is by LC, on the credit.
From the Kanpur origin yard, daily DAP dispatch serves UP, Bihar, MP, Delhi NCR, and Uttarakhand. Steel pipes in Gorakhpur and steel pipes in Jhansi use the same origin yard. Name the PIN on every DAP line.
Where you'll meet this in procurement
You will meet DAP (Delivered at Place) when setting commercial and logistics terms. Spell out DAP (Delivered at Place) on the RFQ or PO so price, quantity, delivery point, and lead time are comparable across suppliers and disputes at dispatch are avoided.
Related terms
Related resources
Key points
- DAP is an Incoterms 2020 any-mode rule: goods at the buyer's disposal on the arriving vehicle, ready for unloading, at the named place.
- Under DAP, export clearance and carriage sit with the seller; unloading and applicable import clearance sit with the buyer.
- DAP is not EXW, not DPU, not DDP, and not FOR. No Incoterms 2020 rule is named FOR.
- Write DAP plus the street, gate, and PIN because the risk point needs a specific place of delivery.
- RP Sales quotes ex-warehouse Kanpur unless the PO writes DAP plus the receiving PIN. Budget the DAP movement with GST 18% extra.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Incoterms 2020 wallchart. Eleven Incoterms 2020 rules: any-mode EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU, DDP; sea and inland waterway FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF (International Chamber of Commerce)
- Incoterms 2020 DAP. Delivered at Place: delivery and risk, unloading, export and import clearance (ICC Digital Library, Rules for any mode) (International Chamber of Commerce)
- ICC Academy DAP or DDP. Incoterms 2020: DAP or DDP. Seller delivers ready for unloading; buyer unloads and clears import (25 February 2025) (ICC Academy)
- CGST Rule 138. E-way-bill requirements for registered-person movements, value threshold, and exemptions (GST Council, Government of India)
- Indian Boiler Regulations, 1950. Forms index: III-A steam pipes, III-B tubes, III-C boiler mountings and fittings (Central Boilers Board, Government of India)