RoDTEP Scheme Sunset Looms on 30 September 2026 — Exporters Should Lock In Claims and Watch for an Extension

The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme, one of the most widely used export incentives in India, is currently authorised only up to 30 September 2026. Under DGFT Notification No. 74/2025-26 dated 31 March 2026, the scheme was continued for a further six months — from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026 — at the existing rates and value caps notified in Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE as they stood on 31 March 2026. As of now, no notification extending the scheme beyond 30 September 2026 has been issued. With the deadline close, exporters should treat 30 September 2026 as the current sunset date and plan accordingly.

What Happened

RoDTEP reimburses exporters for embedded central, state and local duties and taxes that are not otherwise refunded — such as fuel taxes, mandi tax, electricity duty and similar levies — through a transferable duty credit in the exporter's electronic ledger. The scheme is periodically extended by DGFT notification. The most recent extension, Notification No. 74/2025-26, kept the scheme and its rates unchanged for the April–September 2026 window and stated plainly that eligible exports made during this period will continue to receive RoDTEP benefit at the rates and value caps in force as on 31 March 2026.

The operative point today is that this window ends on 30 September 2026. Whether the government issues a fresh extension (as it has repeatedly in the past), revises rates, or allows a gap is not yet known from any published notification.

Why It Matters

RoDTEP directly affects export realisations. For many exporters, the credit is a meaningful part of margin, and it is claimed shipment by shipment via the shipping bill, where the exporter must declare intent to claim RoDTEP. A lapse — even a temporary one between the current sunset and a later extension — can create uncertainty over whether shipments made after 30 September remain eligible, and at what rate. Past extensions have generally preserved continuity, but that is not guaranteed and cannot be assumed until a notification is published.

Who's Affected

The scheme is claimed across a very wide range of merchandise exporters. Most exposed to the deadline are exporters with shipments planned around late September and early October, exporters who have not been declaring the RoDTEP claim correctly on shipping bills, and those who have accumulated but unclaimed or untransferred credits in their ledger. Customs house agents and freight forwarders filing shipping bills on behalf of exporters should be especially alert to the claim declaration in this window.

What Exporters and CHAs Should Do Now

Confirm that every shipping bill filed up to 30 September 2026 carries the correct RoDTEP claim declaration. An omitted or incorrect declaration can cost the credit entirely.
Where feasible and commercially sensible, avoid leaving eligible September shipments to the last day; build a buffer so port or documentation delays do not push a shipment past the cut-off in a way that creates eligibility doubt.
Reconcile and, where useful, generate/transfer accumulated RoDTEP credits in the electronic ledger rather than letting them sit unused.
Check your product's current rate and value cap in Appendix 4R / 4RE (as applicable on 31 March 2026) so realisations are calculated correctly for this window.
Watch the DGFT portal for a fresh notification extending or revising the scheme beyond 30 September 2026, and do not assume continuity until it is published. Note that RoDTEP benefits are, in any case, subject to the current restriction limiting the benefit to a proportion of notified rates and to value caps.
Keep GST and shipping-bill data reconciled, since RoDTEP processing is increasingly cross-checked against filed returns.

The Bigger Picture

RoDTEP was designed to be WTO-compliant by remitting only genuinely embedded, otherwise-unrefunded taxes, and it has become a structural part of India's export-incentive architecture alongside Duty Drawback. Because it runs on time-bound extensions rather than an open-ended statute, exporters live with periodic sunset dates like this one. The recurring pattern has been extension, but each extension is a policy decision taken close to the deadline. For exporters, the safe posture is operational discipline now — clean claims, no last-minute shipments left to chance — combined with close monitoring of DGFT for the next notification.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RoDTEP ending on 30 September 2026? The current authorisation runs to 30 September 2026 under Notification No. 74/2025-26. No extension beyond that date has been notified as of now. It may be extended, but that is not confirmed until DGFT issues a notification.

Will shipments after 30 September 2026 get RoDTEP? That depends on whether a further extension is notified. Until then, eligibility for post-cut-off shipments is uncertain and should not be assumed.

Have the rates changed? No. The current window uses the rates and value caps in Appendix 4R / 4RE as on 31 March 2026, unchanged.

What is the single most important thing to check? That the RoDTEP claim is correctly declared on every shipping bill within the eligible period — an incorrect or missing declaration is the most common way exporters lose the benefit.

Conclusion

RoDTEP is currently authorised only to 30 September 2026, at unchanged rates, and no extension beyond that has yet been published. Exporters should lock in eligible claims, keep shipping-bill declarations correct, use up accumulated credits, and monitor the DGFT portal closely for a fresh notification.

This article is for general guidance only. For the authoritative position, refer to DGFT notifications and Appendices 4R/4RE on the DGFT portal (www.dgft.gov.in).