RoDTEP Scrips — How to Claim, Use and Sell Them: the RODTEPY Declaration on the Shipping Bill, Scroll Generation and the ICEGATE e-Scrip Ledger, Rates of 0.3–4.3% With Per-Unit Caps, Using Scrips to Pay Basic Customs Duty, Transferring Them to an Importer, GST Exemption on the Sale, Income-Tax Treatment, Validity, and the Coverage of Advance Authorisation, EOU and SEZ Exports

RoDTEP replaced MEIS from 1 January 2021 after the WTO ruled India's earlier export subsidies non-compliant. It does not subsidise; it remits taxes embedded in an exported product that are not refunded through GST or duty drawback — VAT and excise on fuel used in transport and generation, electricity duty, mandi tax, stamp duty on export documents, and the like. The rate for each tariff line is fixed by a committee and notified in Appendix 4R of the Handbook of Procedures as a percentage of FOB value (from 0.3% to 4.3% for most lines) often with a rupee-per-unit cap; the rebate is issued as a transferable electronic scrip in the exporter's ICEGATE ledger. The scheme is notified in tranches with sunset dates and budget limits, and coverage of Advance Authorisation holders, export-oriented units and SEZ units has been switched on and off — check the current DGFT notification for the window that applies to your shipping-bill dates.

1. 1IEC registration on ICEGATE: register the IEC holder on icegate.gov.in with a digital signature (Class 3) and link the AD code; without this the ledger cannot be created.
2. 2Shipping bill: your CHA/forwarder marks RODTEPY for each item and the exporter accepts the undertaking (declaration that no other remission of the same taxes is claimed) — set this as the default in the CHA's software.
3. 3EGM: the shipping line/airline files the Export General Manifest; the RoDTEP scroll is generated only after EGM, so track EGM errors (the commonest cause of missing credit).
4. 4Scroll and ledger: Customs generates scrolls periodically; the credits show in the ICEGATE 'RoDTEP' ledger against shipping bills; the exporter selects shipping bills and creates an e-scrip (one scrip can bundle many bills).
5. 5Use or transfer: use the scrip in the Bill of Entry to pay basic customs duty, or transfer it to another IEC holder from the ledger (the transferee accepts it); each transfer is recorded.
6. 6Time limits: create the e-scrip within one year of the scroll; the scrip is valid for one year from creation for use or transfer (the period as notified — check the current regulation before letting scrips age).

• •Buyers: importers who pay basic customs duty — traders, manufacturers importing machinery or inputs — buy scrips at a discount to face value; brokers and online platforms match sellers and buyers; the discount widens near the scrip's expiry and with the market's supply of scrips.
• •Process: agree the price and the scrip number; the seller initiates the transfer in the ICEGATE ledger to the buyer's IEC; the buyer accepts; payment is by bank transfer against the transfer confirmation — never release the transfer before payment terms are secured.
• •GST: duty credit scrips are exempt from GST (Notification 35/2017-CT(R) inserted them in the exemption list), and the value of scrips is excluded when computing input-credit reversal for exempt supplies — so selling a scrip does not cost you ITC.
• •Income tax: the RoDTEP benefit is business income of the exporter (recognised when the right to receive is established, per ICDS); the discount on sale is a business expense/loss; the buyer's purchase of scrips is part of the cost of imported goods.
• •Accounting: recognise the credit as 'export incentive receivable' at scroll generation, transfer to 'duty credit scrips' when created, and to the customs-duty cost or to sale proceeds when used or sold.
• •Use vs sell: an exporter who imports even occasionally saves the discount by using the scrip on their own Bill of Entry; the scrip can pay BCD on any import, not only inputs for exports.