Types of Duty-Credit Scrips in India: A Complete Taxonomy
Duty-credit scrip is a category, not a single instrument. Under it sit several schemes, current and legacy, each with its own coverage. Here is the full map, in one place.
What a duty-credit scrip is, as a category
A duty-credit scrip is a government-issued, transferable credit that can be applied against customs duty. That single idea covers several distinct schemes. What they share is the shape of the instrument: a face value, an expiry, transferability, and use against import duty. What they differ on is the reason the credit was issued and which exports qualify. Understanding the types is really understanding those two questions for each scheme. If you want the base concept first, start with what a RoDTEP scrip is.
RoDTEP: the current broad-based scheme
RoDTEP, the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products, is the current mainstay for most goods exports. It remits the embedded central, state, and local taxes that other refund routes miss, calculated as a notified percentage of FOB, often with a per-unit cap. Its scrips are native e-scrips in the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger on ICEGATE. For most exporters outside the textile chapters, RoDTEP is the scrip they hold. The rate calculation guide covers how its value is derived.
RoSCTL: the textile scheme
RoSCTL, the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies, is the scheme for apparel and made-ups, broadly tariff chapters 61, 62 and 63. It exists because the textile value chain carries its own embedded levies, and it runs in place of RoDTEP for those lines. A garment exporter claims RoSCTL, not RoDTEP, and the two are not claimed together on the same line. In the ledger a RoSCTL scrip behaves like a RoDTEP scrip. The RoSCTL guide and the RoDTEP vs RoSCTL comparison cover the boundary.
MEIS and SEIS: the legacy schemes
MEIS, the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, and SEIS, the Service Exports from India Scheme, are the previous generation. MEIS rewarded goods exporters as a percentage of FOB; SEIS rewarded eligible service exporters on net foreign exchange earned. Both are closed to new claims, MEIS having been replaced by RoDTEP from 1 January 2021, but scrips already issued remain usable until their expiry. They still appear in the market as legacy instruments. The legacy scrips guide covers where they stand.
How the types compare at a glance
The useful way to hold the taxonomy in your head is by three questions per scheme: what does it reward, who qualifies, and is it open?
- RoDTEP. Remits embedded taxes on most exported goods. Open. Native ICEGATE e-scrip.
- RoSCTL. Rebates state and central levies on apparel and made-ups. Open. Runs in place of RoDTEP for those chapters.
- MEIS. Rewarded goods exports as a percentage of FOB. Closed to new claims; legacy scrips valid until expiry.
- SEIS. Rewarded eligible service exports on net foreign exchange. Closed to new claims; legacy scrips valid until expiry.
What is common to all of them: they trade
Whatever the scheme, a transferable, unexpired duty-credit scrip shares one property: it is worth full face against eligible duty and trades a little below face on the open market. That gap is the reason a market exists at all, letting a holder who cannot use the credit sell it to someone who can. The mechanics of that gap are in the face value explainer, and the benchmark a scrip trades against is the Scrip Reference Rate.
Which type you hold, and what to do with it
For most goods exporters the answer is RoDTEP; for garment and made-up exporters it is RoSCTL; and some holders still carry legacy MEIS or SEIS. In every case the two honest uses are the same: apply it against your own import duty, or sell it. On ScripX any transferable, screened scrip sells as one firm offer settled the same business day, and any scrip can help cover a Bill of Entry instead of cash. See how ScripX works for exporters.
Frequently asked questions
What are the types of duty-credit scrips in India?
The main ones are RoDTEP for most goods exports and RoSCTL for apparel and made-ups, both current, plus the legacy MEIS for goods and SEIS for services, both closed to new claims but valid until their scrips expire. All are transferable credits usable against customs duty.
What is the difference between RoDTEP and RoSCTL?
RoSCTL is scoped to apparel and made-ups, broadly tariff chapters 61, 62 and 63, and runs in place of RoDTEP for those lines. RoDTEP covers most other goods. Each has its own notified rate schedule, and a single export line claims one scheme, not both.
Are MEIS and SEIS scrips still tradable?
Yes, while they remain within their validity. Both schemes are closed to new claims, but transferable scrips already issued can still be applied against eligible duty or sold until their expiry date. Their resale value depends on time to expiry and which duties they can discharge.
Do all duty-credit scrips trade the same way?
They share the same logic: worth full face against eligible duty and trading a little below face. What varies is exactly which duties a scheme's scrip can discharge and how close it is to expiry, which affects the pool of buyers and the price. On an exchange each is screened and settled the same way.
