RoDTEP Scheme
Design and WTO Compatibility
The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme was launched on January 1, 2021, replacing the earlier Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). It provides exporters a refund of all embedded taxes, duties, and levies incurred in the production and distribution of exported goods that are not otherwise remitted — including central, state, and local taxes that do not appear in customs/GST refund chains (e.g., electricity duties, mandi taxes, fuel used in transport). The refund is given as a transferable electronic scrip (e-scrip) credited to the exporter's IEC account, usable for paying basic customs duty.
- RoDTEP rates: range from 0.3% to 4.3% of the FOB (Free on Board) value of exports, varying by product category
- Applicable to: manufacturer exporters, merchant exporters, SEZ units, and Export Oriented Units (EOUs); no minimum turnover threshold
- Administering body: DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Mechanism: WTO-compliant design — refunds only taxes and duties embedded in production (not export subsidies per se); WTO permits full remission of indirect taxes on exports
- MEIS (predecessor): was found by a WTO panel to violate the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) because it provided payments exceeding actual taxes paid, constituting an export subsidy
- RoDTEP was designed to avoid this WTO-incompatibility by linking refund amounts strictly to verified tax incidence data
● Tracked since February 24, 2026 · last seen April 01, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes