RoDTEP Advisory & Scrip Utilisation

The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme was launched under Foreign Trade Policy and is governed by the guidelines notified vide Ministry of Commerce and Industry notification dated August 17, 2021, replacing the earlier MEIS scheme. RoDTEP reimburses central, state, and local duties, taxes, and levies embedded in the cost of exported goods that are not otherwise remitted, refunded, or credited, including taxes on electricity, mandi tax, and stamp duty. The scheme applies to exporters of goods classified under the ITC(HS) codes listed in the RoDTEP schedule notified by the Ministry of Finance; exporters of certain sectors like steel, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals were initially excluded but several have since been included through subsequent notifications. The benefit is available only on exports made under Free on Board (FOB) terms and is computed as a percentage of the FOB value as specified in the rate schedule.

RoDTEP benefits are credited electronically to the exporter's Duty Credit Ledger maintained on the ICEGATE portal of CBIC; there are no physical scrips. The exporter declares the RoDTEP claim at the time of filing the Shipping Bill by selecting the RoDTEP indicator, and after the Export General Manifest (EGM) is filed and the Shipping Bill is processed, the ledger credit is generated automatically under the RoDTEP rules operationalised via Customs Notification No. 76/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated September 23, 2021. The credit can be used to pay Basic Customs Duty on imports or transferred to any other importer through the system; once transferred, it cannot be re-transferred. Exporters must ensure that Shipping Bills are filed with the correct ITC(HS) code and RoDTEP indicator activated, as post-shipping amendments are procedurally complex under the Customs Act 1962.

Under the RoDTEP guidelines issued by the Department of Revenue, exporters are required to maintain cost accounting records that demonstrate the actual embedded duties and taxes in the export product to substantiate the claimed rates, even though the rates are administratively pre-determined. The exporter must retain Shipping Bills, bank realization certificates (BRC/FIRC), purchase invoices, input tax credit registers, and proof of payment of all embedded levies for a period of five years as required under Rule 10 of the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules 2020 and general record retention norms under Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act 1992. A CA may be required to certify cost sheets for high-value exporters or in cases where the Customs authority raises a query under Section 28 of the Customs Act 1962. Claims found to be incorrect are recoverable with interest at 15% per annum.

RoDTEP is available to both manufacturer exporters and merchant exporters, as the scheme is linked to the Shipping Bill and not to the entity's status as manufacturer or trader. However, the exporter must be the actual owner of the goods at the time of export as evidenced by the Shipping Bill and must declare that no other benefit (such as input tax credit, duty drawback on the same duty component, or advance authorisation) has been claimed for the same taxes/duties being remitted under RoDTEP, as per the anti-double-dipping condition in the RoDTEP guidelines. Merchant exporters sourcing from multiple suppliers should note that the RoDTEP rate schedule is product-specific (based on ITC-HS code) and not supplier-specific, so the applicable rate is the same regardless of whether goods are self-manufactured or procured. The duty credit accrues in the name of the entity that files the Shipping Bill.

RoDTEP, GST refund, and duty drawback cover different categories of embedded costs and can be claimed simultaneously on the same export consignment without double-counting, provided each scheme reimburses distinct taxes. GST refund under Section 16 of the IGST Act 2017 covers central and state GST paid on inputs; duty drawback under Chapter X of the Customs Act 1962 covers customs duty on imported inputs; and RoDTEP covers residual embedded levies not covered by the other two schemes (such as state electricity duty, mandi tax, stamp duties). The RoDTEP guidelines explicitly prohibit claiming remission of any duty/tax that has already been refunded or remitted under any other scheme, and the Shipping Bill declaration requires the exporter to confirm this. An exporter claiming all three must maintain a reconciliation register mapping each duty/tax to the specific scheme under which it is being claimed, which a CA can verify during export compliance review.