What is Consignee?
In trade, the consignee is the party that receives what you send. For goods, it is the person or company named to take delivery of the shipment at the destination. For services, the closest equivalent is the client who receives and uses your work. The consignee is often the buyer, but not always: a company might buy goods and have them delivered to a sister concern or a warehouse, which would then be the consignee.
Why it matters for exporters
The EDF has a dedicated field for this. Field 1.13 in Part 1 asks for the consignee or recipient. For a service exporter, this is normally your foreign client, the entity named on your invoice. Part 2B of the EDF then repeats the service recipient's name and address against each invoice row.
Getting this right matters for matching. When money arrives, your bank compares the remitter with the recipient you declared. If the payment comes from someone other than the consignee, for example a parent company or a payroll platform, fields 1.15 and 1.16 on third party and relationship become relevant. Mismatches between the consignee on the EDF, the name on the invoice and the remitter on the FIRA are a common reason for bank queries.
Example
Ember Design Studio in Ahmedabad designs packaging for a UK retailer, Willow & Co Ltd, whose Irish subsidiary pays the invoices. Ember names Willow & Co Ltd as consignee in field 1.13 and as the service recipient in Part 2B, because the work is delivered to and invoiced to Willow. Because the money comes from the Irish subsidiary, Ember also fills fields 1.15 and 1.16 to show the third party and its relationship. The EDF form generator has fields for all of these.
Common confusion
For services, "consignee" and service recipient usually mean the same entity. The payer can be different, which is a third-party payment. Read third-party payments in the EDF if that applies to you.