Last reviewed: 23 August 2026. Export incentive schemes rarely make headlines the way GST or income-tax changes do, but 2026 has been an eventful year for exporters tracking RoDTEP: rates were halved in February, fully restored a month later, and the scheme has since been extended to 30 September 2026. If your export documentation or accounting team missed any of these notifications, you could be sitting on an under-claimed refund or a compliance gap that surfaces only at the time of an EDPMS reconciliation. This guide sets out where RoDTEP, Duty Drawback and Advance Authorisation stand today, and what MSME exporters should check.
Timeline of RoDTEP changes through 2026
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 23 February 2026 | DGFT Notification 60/2025-26 cut all RoDTEP rates and value caps to 50% of the notified level. Agricultural and food products under HS Chapters 01-24 were exempted and kept their full rate |
| 23 March 2026 | DGFT Notification 66/2025-26 withdrew the reduction entirely and restored the original rates retroactively for the affected period |
| 1 April 2026 | Circular confirmed restoration of full RoDTEP rates and caps through 30 September 2026, covering DTA units, Advance Authorisation holders, SEZ units and EOUs |
| 30 April 2026 | DGFT Notification 15/2026-27 realigned roughly 192 tariff codes to a revised HS schedule effective 1 May 2026 — several leather, herbal-extract and steel product codes were split, changing which HS code exporters must declare for RoDTEP eligibility |
| Now – 30 September 2026 | Scheme runs at full restored rates. No confirmed extension beyond this date has been notified as of this article — check DGFT's site before relying on RoDTEP eligibility for shipments planned after September |
If you exported anything between 24 February and 22 March 2026, it is worth checking the e-scrip credit you actually received against the restored full rate — shipments processed during that window may have been credited at the temporarily halved rate before the reversal took effect operationally.
RoDTEP vs Duty Drawback vs Advance Authorisation
| RoDTEP | Duty Drawback | Advance Authorisation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it refunds/exempts | Embedded taxes and duties not otherwise refunded (fuel, electricity duty, mandi tax, etc.) | Customs and central excise duty paid on imported/domestic inputs used in the exported goods | Upfront exemption from customs duty on inputs, before they are imported, for goods meant for export |
| When you get the benefit | After export, via e-scrip on the shipping bill | After export, as a cash/credit refund | Before import of inputs — no duty paid at all on the authorised quantity |
| Rate basis | Product/HS-code-wise notified rate, subject to a value cap | All Industry Rate (AIR) schedule, or a brand rate for specific exporters | Standard Input-Output Norms (SION), or ad-hoc norms where SION doesn't exist |
| Can it be combined with the others? | Generally not with Duty Drawback on the same shipment for the same duty component — check the specific exclusion for your product | See RoDTEP column | Inputs under AA are typically excluded from RoDTEP on the export made using them — verify per shipment |
Worked example — catching an under-credited RoDTEP refund
Consider a hypothetical textile exporter who shipped a consignment on 5 March 2026, while the 50% RoDTEP reduction was still in effect. The shipping bill was processed and the e-scrip credited at the halved rate, since the retroactive restoration notification came only on 23 March. Once the restoration was confirmed, the exporter's accounting team needed to go back, identify every shipping bill filed in the 24 February-22 March window, and check the credited e-scrip value against what the fully restored rate would have produced. Where there is a shortfall, the difference can typically be claimed through the standard RoDTEP amendment/re-credit process on ICEGATE — but only if someone actually reconciled the two figures. This is exactly the kind of gap that a monthly export-incentive reconciliation, done as part of routine bookkeeping, catches before it is forgotten.
How RoDTEP is claimed, step by step
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Declare eligibility on the shipping bill | The exporter (or their customs broker) declares the RoDTEP claim at the time of filing the shipping bill, against the correct HS code |
| 2. Customs processing | Customs processes the export; the RoDTEP claim moves through its own workflow separate from the physical export clearance |
| 3. E-scrip generation | Once processed, a transferable duty credit scrip (e-scrip) is generated and credited to the exporter's ledger on the ICEGATE portal |
| 4. Use or transfer | The e-scrip can be used to pay basic customs duty on a future import, or transferred/sold to another importer — typically at a market discount to face value |
Common mistakes we see
- Declaring the pre-realignment HS code after 1 May 2026. The tariff code realignment under Notification 15/2026-27 split roughly 192 codes; continuing to use an old code that no longer maps cleanly to the new RoDTEP rate schedule risks a rejected or delayed claim.
- Claiming RoDTEP on inputs sourced under Advance Authorisation. The two schemes generally cannot be stacked on the same export for the same duty component — check before claiming both.
- Skipping the EDPMS/BRC reconciliation. RoDTEP and Duty Drawback are export-incentive questions; separately, every export also needs its foreign inward remittance reconciled against the shipping bill in RBI's EDPMS — a gap here can hold up future export benefits even where the incentive claim itself was correct.
Who this matters most for right now
MSME exporters in textiles, leather, engineering goods and chemicals are the most exposed to the changes above — both because the February-March rate swing hit these sectors' typical RoDTEP rates hardest in absolute terms, and because the April HS-code realignment touched leather and steel-adjacent codes specifically. If your export documentation process runs on autopilot with a customs broker, it is worth a one-time check that the broker is applying the current, restored rates and the realigned codes correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Is RoDTEP still active right now?
Yes — at full, restored rates, extended through 30 September 2026 under DGFT Notification 74/2025-26. No confirmed extension beyond that date has been notified as of this article; exporters planning shipments for October 2026 and later should check DGFT's latest notifications before assuming continuity.
We exported during the 50% RoDTEP cut period — do we automatically get the difference credited?
Not automatically in every case — it depends on how your shipping bills from that window were processed. It is worth reconciling the e-scrip actually credited for shipments between 24 February and 22 March 2026 against the fully restored rate, and pursuing the standard amendment process on ICEGATE for any shortfall.
Can we claim both RoDTEP and Duty Drawback on the same export?
Generally not for the same duty component on the same shipment — the schemes are designed to avoid double benefit. Whether a specific combination is permitted depends on the product and the exact duty elements involved, which is worth checking per shipment rather than assuming either way.
Does the April 2026 HS code realignment affect us if we haven't changed our product line?
It can, even without any change on your side — if the tariff schedule itself split or renumbered the code your product used to fall under, continuing to declare the old code on shipping bills filed after 1 May 2026 can cause a mismatch. Check your product's current HS code against the revised schedule if you export leather, herbal extract or certain steel products.
What is the difference between an e-scrip and a cash refund?
RoDTEP does not pay out as cash — it generates a transferable electronic duty credit (e-scrip) on the ICEGATE portal, which the exporter can use to pay basic customs duty on a future import, or sell/transfer to another importer, usually at a small discount to face value. Duty Drawback, by contrast, is typically credited as cash or adjusted against other government dues.
Do these schemes affect our GST position too?
RoDTEP, Duty Drawback and Advance Authorisation sit under the Foreign Trade Policy and customs law, separate from GST — but most exporters also run a parallel GST export process (LUT-based zero-rated supply and ITC refunds), and getting both right together is what a coordinated export compliance review checks.
We help exporters keep GST export compliance (LUT, ITC refunds), IEC/AD Code documentation and export-incentive claims like RoDTEP and Duty Drawback reconciled against each other, so nothing is left on the table and nothing creates a compliance gap later.
CA Services for Exporters GST for Exporters & LUT Refunds Talk to usThis article summarises RoDTEP, Duty Drawback and Advance Authorisation developments as reported as of 23 August 2026; rates, timelines and scheme extensions are notified periodically by DGFT — verify the current position for your specific product/HS code before relying on it for a shipment.