RoDTEP, duty drawback and the IGST refund: how an Indian exporter to the USA gets the money back

RoDTEP vs drawback vs IGST refund: the three mechanisms side by side

The three refunds answer three different questions. RoDTEP returns the Central, State and local taxes embedded in your export that no other scheme refunds, as a duty credit.^[8] Duty drawback returns the customs duty paid on the imported materials inside the goods, in cash, under Section 75 of the Customs Act, 1962.^[12] GST zero-rating returns either the unutilized input tax credit behind the export or the IGST paid on it.^[15]

All three are claimed through the shipping bill on ICEGATE rather than by a separate application, all three wait for the carrier's Export General Manifest (EGM), and all three depend on the export proceeds reaching India in time.^[10][17][21] The table is the map; the sections give the mechanism of each as of October 15, 2026.

RoDTEP scheme in 2026: what it refunds, who is in and out, and how long it runs

RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) sits in Chapter 4 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023, paragraphs 4.54 to 4.59. It refunds Central, State and local duties, taxes and levies borne on the exported product that no other scheme refunds, exempts or credits, including prior-stage taxes on inputs, as a notified percentage of FOB value with a per-unit value cap where one is set, against the 8-digit HS code, inside an annual budget fixed by the Ministry of Finance.^[8]

The scheme is extended in short steps. Notification 35/2025-26 of September 30, 2025 carried it to March 31, 2026; Notification 74/2025-26 of March 31, 2026 carried it from April 1 to September 30, 2026; and as of October 15, 2026 the notification in force is DGFT Notification 41/2026-27 of September 30, 2026, which continues RoDTEP up to December 31, 2026 for exports by Domestic Tariff Area units, Advance Authorisation holders, SEZ units and EOUs, at the rates and value caps in Appendix 4R and 4RE as they stood on September 30, 2026.^[1][2][3] Anything shipped after that date depends on the next notification.

Rates move by notification, and 2026 showed how fast. Notification 60/2025-26 of February 23, 2026 limited every rate and value cap to 50 percent with immediate effect, and a corrigendum of February 24, 2026 kept exports under ITC (HS) Chapters 1 to 24 out of the cut.^[4][5] Notification 66/2025-26 of March 23, 2026 superseded it and restored the rates and caps as they stood on February 22, 2026; the notification as first issued said the restoration ran from February 23, but a corrigendum of the same date reads it as effective from March 23, 2026 to March 31, 2026, which leaves shipping bills of February 23 to March 22, 2026 under Notification 60/2025-26.^[6] On May 1, 2026, Notification 15/2026-27 realigned the schedule to the amended Customs Tariff, adding 142 tariff lines, deleting 50 and redescribing 2, so an exporter whose 8-digit code changed in 2026 should re-check it.^[7] The schedule is Appendix 4R (DTA exporters) and 4RE (Advance Authorisation, EOU and SEZ exporters) on the DGFT portal.^[8] This guide quotes no rate: open Appendix 4R and 4RE on dgft.gov.in for your HS code on the date of your Let Export Order.

Paragraph 4.55 lists the exports that get no RoDTEP. The ones that matter on the India to USA lane:^[8]

• Re-export of imported goods, and goods trans-shipped through India that originated in a third country.^[8]
• Products subject to a minimum export price or an export duty, and products restricted or prohibited for export under Schedule 2 of the ITC (HS).^[8]
• Deemed exports, supplies from DTA to SEZ or FTWZ units, and goods made wholly or partly in a Section 65 bonded warehouse.^[8]
• Exports with no electronic record on ICEGATE, including exports from non-EDI ports, and goods taken into use after manufacture.^[8]
• Apparel and made-ups of Chapters 61 to 63 are covered by the separate RoSCTL scheme in exclusion of RoDTEP; the ICEGATE advisory of August 16, 2024 records the Ministry of Textiles' extension of RoSCTL to March 31, 2026, so check the current notification for those chapters.^[11]

How to claim RoDTEP: the declaration, the scroll, the e-scrip and the annual return

RoDTEP has no application form. The claim is made in the shipping bill, item by item, with a declaration that you will abide by the scheme, claim no rebate for duties already exempted or remitted elsewhere, and keep records for audit.^[10] CBIC runs it under Section 51B of the Customs Act through Notifications 76/2021 and 75/2021-Customs (N.T.) of September 23, 2021.^[10][12] From there the money moves through ICEGATE in this order:^[11]

1. Declare on the shipping bill. Your CHA enters the RoDTEP claim at item level with the declaration; a shipping bill without it is not a claim. The benefit is computed on the declared FOB value or 1.5 times the market price of the goods, whichever is less.^[11]
2. Wait for the EGM. Customs processes the claim, by officer or through the Risk Management System, only after the Gateway EGM is filed for the shipping bill.^[11]
3. The scroll. The Customs location of export generates a RoDTEP scroll listing each shipping bill and the duty credit allowed against it.^[10]
4. Generate the e-scrip. Log in to ICEGATE with the IEC's digital signature, create an e-scrip account for RoDTEP, and convert the credit in one or more scrolls into an e-scrip. You have one year from the scroll; after that the system combines the credits per Customs station and pushes an e-scrip into your ledger.^[11][10]
5. Use or transfer it. An e-scrip is valid for one year from generation, and credit left at the end lapses. It pays only Basic Customs Duty, entered in the license table of the Bill of Entry with scheme code RD. It is freely transferable to another IEC holder with an e-scrip account, but only for its whole amount, by OTP-confirmed request and approval.^[10][11]
6. File the Annual RoDTEP Return. Handbook of Procedures paragraph 4.94 requires an IEC whose RoDTEP claims exceed Rs 1 crore in a financial year to file an ARR on the DGFT portal by March 31 of the next financial year; non-filing stops scroll-out at the port of export after a three-month grace period, and the records behind the claim must be kept for five years.^[9]

Duty drawback under Section 75: All Industry Rate vs brand rate

Duty drawback is older and narrower than RoDTEP. Section 75 of the Customs Act, 1962 lets the Central Government allow drawback of the customs duties paid on imported materials used in making the goods that are exported, under rules made for the purpose.^[12] Those rules are the Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 2017, in force from October 1, 2017; since then drawback means the rebate of duty excluding the IGST and compensation cess charged on imports, which the GST refund handles instead.^[13][14]

The All Industry Rate (AIR) is a schedule notified under Rule 3 for each tariff item, a percentage of FOB with a cap per unit, built on the average duty incidence of the industry rather than your actual imports.^[13] The schedule in force as of October 15, 2026 is Notification 77/2023-Customs (N.T.) of October 20, 2023, effective October 30, 2023; to claim it, the tariff item on the shipping bill is suffixed with the letter B (for example 610901B), and CBIC amends individual lines by further notifications.^[14] Quote the rate from the notification for your line, not from a reproduction.

The brand rate is fixed for your own product on your own duty-paid inputs. Rule 6 applies where no AIR exists; Rule 7 where the AIR is less than 80 percent of the duties actually paid on the materials, and only if no AIR claim has been made on the shipment.^[13] Either application goes to the Commissioner of Customs over the place of export within three months of the date that fixes the applicable rate, which Rule 5 ties to Section 16 of the Act, that is the Let Export Order date; the Assistant or Deputy Commissioner can extend by three months and the Commissioner by a further six, on an application fee of 1 percent of FOB or Rs 1,000, whichever is less, for the first extension and 2 percent or Rs 2,000, whichever is less, for the second.^[13][12] A provisional amount can be paid against a bond while the rate is fixed, and afterwards each shipping bill carries a declaration that the manufacturing formula and the imported inputs have not changed.^[13]

Two interactions matter. RoDTEP is claimed at item level on the same shipping bill in addition to drawback, and never covers duties already remitted or refunded elsewhere.^[11][8] And the CGST Act bars a refund of unutilized input tax credit where the supplier avails drawback in respect of central tax or claims the IGST refund on the same supplies; since 2017 drawback means the rebate of customs duty on imported materials and central excise duty on the few excisable materials, excluding IGST and compensation cess, so which duties your drawback refunds is the test, and one for your chartered accountant.^[16][13]

The drawback shipping bill, the EGM dependency and the time limits

Under Rule 13 the exporter states on the shipping bill the particulars needed to decide the drawback and declares that a claim under the rules is being made.^[13] Under Rule 14 the electronic shipping bill filed under a drawback claim is itself the claim, deemed filed on the date of the Let Export Order under Section 51, with the export contract or letter of credit, an insurance certificate where needed, and the brand-rate letter if one applies; an incomplete claim comes back with a deficiency memo within 10 days and counts as not filed until resubmitted.^[13]

Payment waits for the EGM: drawback and RoDTEP claims on a shipping bill are processed together and scrolled only after the Gateway EGM is filed, so a shipping bill whose EGM is missing or wrong earns nothing until the carrier corrects it.^[11] Once the claim is complete, Section 75A gives Customs one month to pay, with interest at the Section 27A rate after that; up to one month of testing time is excluded.^[12][13] The money is credited to the exporter's account at the Custom House, which is why the bank account registered with Customs must be current.^[13]

Two later clocks apply. A supplementary claim for a shortfall must be filed within three months of the rate's publication, of the brand-rate letter, or of the original payment.^[13] If the sale proceeds are not realized within the period allowed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, Section 75 deems the drawback never to have been allowed; Rule 18 lets Customs demand evidence of realization within 30 days and recover the drawback in proportion to the unrealized amount, repayable if you prove realization within three months of receiving the money.^[12][13] The RBI period is nine months from the date of export for all exporters, including SEZ units, status holders and EOUs, as the Master Direction reads after its amendment of June 5, 2026; its footnotes record that the period stood at fifteen months between the amendments of November 13, 2025 and June 5, 2026.^[21]

IGST on exports: zero-rated under Section 16, exported under LUT or with payment of tax

Section 16 of the IGST Act, 2017 makes the export of goods a zero-rated supply, and input tax credit may be taken on inputs used for zero-rated supplies even though the supply carries no tax.^[15] Since October 1, 2023, when the Finance Act, 2021 amendments to Section 16 took effect, sub-section (3) frames the refund as one of unutilized input tax credit on exports made without payment of IGST under a bond or Letter of Undertaking, under Section 54 of the CGST Act; sub-section (4) lets the Government notify the class of persons and the class of goods that may instead export on payment of IGST and claim that tax back.^[15] Neither refund is allowed where the goods are subject to an export duty, and a refund received on goods whose sale proceeds are not realized must be deposited back with interest within thirty days of the end of the FEMA period.^[15]

Route 1, export under LUT. Before exporting without paying IGST, the registered person furnishes a bond or a Letter of Undertaking in Form GST RFD-11 to the jurisdictional Commissioner, undertaking to pay the tax with interest within 15 days after three months from the export invoice if the goods are not exported by then, or such longer period as the Commissioner allows.^[17] The LUT is open to all registered persons except those prosecuted for tax evasion above Rs 2.5 crore, who export under bond; CBIC has said zero-rating should not be denied where exports are proven even if the LUT came late.^[18] The refund on this route is of unutilized input tax credit, applied for in Form GST RFD-01 with a statement of shipping bills and export invoices; realization of proceeds is not a precondition, though it becomes a recovery ground later.^[17][18] The registrations guide covers obtaining the LUT.

Route 2, export with payment of IGST. For the class of exporters and goods notified under Section 16(4), you charge IGST on the export invoice, pay it through GSTR-3B, and the shipping bill becomes the refund application under Rule 96; Customs, not the GST officer, credits the IGST to the bank account in your GST registration as intimated to Customs, and since January 1, 2022 the rule also requires the applicant to have completed Aadhaar authentication under Rule 10B.^[15][17] Rule 96(10), which barred this route to exporters who had received inputs under certain concessional notifications, was omitted by Notification 20/2024-Central Tax of October 8, 2024, so as of October 15, 2026 that bar is gone from the rule.^[17] Which route suits you turns on how much credit accumulates, on cash flow and on whether your registration and goods fall within the notified class: a question for your chartered accountant, not a freight forwarder.

On either route the clock is Section 54. A refund application must be made within two years of the relevant date, which for goods exported by sea or air is the date the ship or aircraft leaves India, and an application rectified after a deficiency memo must also fall inside those two years.^[16][18] The order is due within 60 days of a complete application, 90 percent may be refunded provisionally for zero-rated supplies, and Section 56 adds interest at up to 6 percent beyond 60 days.^[16][18]

How the IGST refund flows: GSTR-1 Table 6A, GSTR-3B 3.1(b) and shipping bill matching on ICEGATE

The with-payment refund is automatic only if three records agree: the shipping bill on ICEGATE, Table 6A of GSTR-1 and Table 3.1(b) of GSTR-3B. The shipping bill is deemed to be the application only when the export manifest is filed and a GSTR-3B shows the IGST paid on exports in Table 3.1(b); the export invoices go in Table 6A of GSTR-1; only where the GST portal can validate the consistency of those details does it forward the claim to Customs, which credits the IGST paid against each shipping bill.^[18] If the shipping bill and GSTR-1 disagree, the application is deemed filed only on the date the mismatch is rectified, so a mismatch moves the legal filing date, not just the payment.^[17] In practice:^[18][17]

1. On the shipping bill: your GSTIN, the GST invoice number and date, the taxable value and the IGST amount, item by item, from the GST tax invoice, not a separate customs invoice.^[19]
2. In GSTR-1 Table 6A: the same invoices with the shipping bill number, date and port code; records missing any of the three are not forwarded to Customs.^[19]
3. In GSTR-3B Table 3.1(b): the IGST on zero-rated supplies, at least the aggregate claimed in Table 6A for the period, or the portal holds the records back.^[19]
4. On ICEGATE: the EGM filed by the carrier, and the refund status enquiry by GSTIN, port code and return month, which shows each invoice's response code.^[19]
5. At the bank: the account registered with Customs for the IEC; the refund is paid electronically through PFMS and no manual payment or paper check is issued.^[19][17]

What blocks the money: EGM, invoice mismatch, wrong declaration, bank account and late payment

Most stuck refunds trace back to a handful of causes, and one cause often holds up all three schemes because they share the shipping bill and the EGM. Each blocker and where the fix sits, as of October 15, 2026:

• EGM not filed or filed wrong. Nothing scrolls until the Gateway EGM exists: not the RoDTEP scroll, not the drawback, not the IGST refund, which is not even deemed filed without the manifest.^[11][17] CBIC lists a missing or incorrect EGM among the main reasons refunds are held; check the EGM status on ICEGATE before chasing anyone else.^[19]
• Invoice mismatch, error SB005. The commonest IGST error is an invoice number, value or IGST amount on the shipping bill that differs from GSTR-1, usually because one invoice series was used for GST and another for Customs.^[19] The fix is the officer interface at the Custom House, with a concordance table mapping GST invoices to shipping-bill invoices; since Circular 05/2021-Customs of February 17, 2021 it is permanent for shipping bills of any date, on a Rs 1,000 fee.^[20]
• GSTIN, shipping bill number or IGST total wrong in the returns. A GSTIN on the shipping bill that differs from the one filing the returns, a wrong shipping bill number in Table 6A, or a Table 6A claiming more IGST than Table 3.1(b) shows, all stop the record at the GST portal; the correction is Table 9 of a later GSTR-1.^[19] Where the GST invoice value and the shipping bill value differ, the refund is computed on the lower.^[18]
• No RoDTEP or drawback declaration. Both are claimed only by the declaration on the shipping bill; a bill filed without the RoDTEP claim or the drawback tariff item and suffix is not a claim, and exports from non-EDI ports are outside RoDTEP altogether.^[10][13][8] Agree the scheme codes with your CHA before filing, not after the Let Export Order.
• AD code and bank account. The IGST refund goes to the bank account in your GST registration as intimated to Customs, and drawback to the account at the Custom House, so a closed or unregistered account leaves a sanctioned refund undeliverable.^[17][13] Keep the AD code registration at each port of export current; see the registrations guide.
• Annual RoDTEP Return not filed. An IEC above the Rs 1 crore threshold that misses the ARR loses scroll-out at the port of export after the grace period until it files and pays the composition fee.^[9]
• Export proceeds not realized in time. The RBI allows nine months from the date of export.^[21] Miss it and RoDTEP is deemed never allowed, drawback is recovered with interest, and an IGST or ITC refund already paid must be deposited back within 30 days under Rule 96B.^{[8][12][13][17]} Close every shipping bill in EDPMS through your bank and keep the e-BRC.
• Rates and validity that moved. RoDTEP rates were halved from February 23, 2026 and restored from March 23, 2026, and the scheme's end date moves in steps of three to six months; the drawback schedule is amended line by line.^[4][6][2][3] Check the notification in force on your Let Export Order date before you price a refund into a quote.