The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme was announced by Government of India (GOI) on 14/09/2019 to boost exports by allowing reimbursement of taxes and duties, which are not exempted or refunded under any other scheme in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) norms. RoDTEP is a combination of the current Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) and Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL).

At present, embedded duties and taxes, which are not refunded under any other scheme, range from 1-3%. Under the scheme, rebate of these taxes will be given in the form of duty credit/electronic scrip. The RoDTEP scheme was initially proposed to be notified from April 2020. However, GoI decided to continue to allow the benefits under MEIS and RoSCTL schemes up to 31/12/2020 until the same are merged into RoDTEP. Therefore, the scheme is expected to be notified from January 2021.

Key Features of the scheme –

1. Remission of taxes/duties/levies: The benefit received via this scheme is expected to cover certain taxes like state taxes on power supply, water, oil and petroleum products, education cess, etc. that were not covered by the earlier schemes which logically means that the rates of rebate in the indicative list are expected to be higher than MEIS or RoSCTL.
2. Automated refund system In line with digital India: Refund will be issued to exporters in the form of transferable duty credit/ electronic scrips, which will be maintained in an electronic ledger.
3. Speedy clearance through digitalization: A monitoring and audit mechanism, with an information technology-based risk management system would be put in to physically verify the records of the exporters. This will enable faster clearance through digital platform.

Some of the finer details of the scheme are not yet clear. They will be explained in due course of time by the Finance Ministry. But, as the scheme is being handled by the Customs department instead of the DGFT, exporters have to first register their firm on the Icegate website in order to avail any sort of benefit under the RoDTEP scheme.

Minu International is an expert at handling the registration process and the subsequent scrip application process related to the RoDTEP scheme. We would be glad to hear from you about any enquiries related to availing this benefit for your business.