MEIS, SEIS, and Legacy Duty-Credit Scrips: Where They Stand Now
Before RoDTEP there was MEIS, and alongside it SEIS. Both are closed to new claims, but the scrips they issued did not vanish. Here is where the legacy schemes stand and how their scrips trade today.
What MEIS and SEIS were
MEIS, the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, and SEIS, the Service Exports from India Scheme, were the previous generation of duty-credit schemes under the earlier Foreign Trade Policy. MEIS rewarded goods exporters with a duty credit calculated as a percentage of FOB value; SEIS did the same for eligible service exporters, calculated on net foreign exchange earned. Both issued freely transferable duty-credit scrips usable against import duty, the direct ancestors of today's RoDTEP and RoSCTL scrips.
Why MEIS closed and RoDTEP replaced it
MEIS was framed as an export incentive, a reward tied to exporting. That design drew a WTO challenge, because export-contingent subsidies of that kind sit awkwardly with global trade rules. The response was to retire MEIS from 1 January 2021 and replace it with RoDTEP, which is deliberately framed not as a reward but as a remission of embedded, un-refunded taxes. That reframing is the substance of the change, not just the name. The RoDTEP scrip guide covers how the successor scheme works.
Are legacy MEIS and SEIS scrips still valid?
Closing a scheme to new claims is not the same as cancelling the scrips it already issued. A duty-credit scrip is a validly issued instrument with its own expiry, and it remains usable against duty until that expiry regardless of whether the scheme still accepts new claims. So a MEIS or SEIS scrip in hand is still real value, provided it is within its validity window. The single thing that ends a legacy scrip is its expiry date, not the closure of the scheme. For how expiry drives value, see when does a scrip expire.
How legacy scrips differ from RoDTEP in the ledger
The older MEIS and SEIS scrips were issued in the earlier era and are not identical to RoDTEP e-scrips in how they were recorded and utilised. Where a RoDTEP scrip lives natively in the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger on ICEGATE, legacy scrips followed the utilisation and transfer rules of their own scheme. The practical differences show up in what duties a scrip can be applied against and how a transfer is recorded, which is why the exact rules for a given legacy scrip should be read against that scheme rather than assumed from RoDTEP. The taxonomy of duty-credit scrips sets the schemes side by side.
How legacy scrips trade today
A transferable legacy scrip within its validity trades on the same logic as any duty-credit scrip: it is worth its face against eligible duty, and it changes hands a little below face. The buyer is someone who can use it against their own duty; the seller is a holder who would rather have cash than a credit sitting idle toward its expiry. The two things that most affect a legacy scrip's resale value are how close it sits to expiry and exactly which duties it can discharge, because a narrower utilisation makes for a narrower pool of buyers. The face value explainer covers the face-versus-market gap.
Selling or buying a legacy scrip on an exchange
Whatever the scheme, the risks in an older scrip are the same ones an exchange is built to remove: verifying the scrip is valid and unencumbered, and settling so that neither side moves first. On ScripX every scrip is provenance-screened before it can be listed, the price is anchored to a published benchmark, and settlement is delivery-versus-payment with a same-day payout and UTR. That matters more, not less, for a legacy instrument, where the paperwork trail can be older and thinner. If you are weighing a purchase, are duty-credit scrips safe to buy covers what screening actually checks.
Frequently asked questions
Are MEIS scrips still valid?
MEIS is closed to new claims, but scrips already issued remain usable against eligible duty until their own expiry date. Closing the scheme did not cancel the scrips it issued. The single thing that ends a legacy scrip is its expiry, so a MEIS scrip in hand and within validity is still real value.
What replaced MEIS and why?
RoDTEP replaced MEIS from 1 January 2021. MEIS was framed as an export incentive, which drew a WTO challenge, while RoDTEP is framed as a remission of embedded, un-refunded taxes, which keeps it WTO-compatible. The reframing, not just the name, is the substance of the change.
Can I still sell a legacy MEIS or SEIS scrip?
If the scrip is transferable and within its validity, yes. It trades on the same logic as any duty-credit scrip: worth full face against eligible duty and changing hands a little below face. Its resale value depends most on how close it is to expiry and exactly which duties it can discharge.
What is the difference between MEIS and SEIS?
MEIS rewarded goods exporters with a duty credit calculated on FOB value, while SEIS rewarded eligible service exporters, calculated on net foreign exchange earned. Both issued freely transferable duty-credit scrips and both are now closed to new claims.
