The government has clarified that exporters are not required to obtain Registration-Cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC) for claiming benefits under the post-export remission-based schemes such as Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL), Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) and duty drawback.
In an October 4 trade notice uploaded on the DGFT portal on Monday clarifying the RCMC requirement for the schemes under Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023, the Commerce Ministry said, “For the aforementioned remission-based schemes, the requirement of an RCMC does not apply. Exporters can claim benefits under these schemes without obtaining an RCMC.”
According to the new FTP, an RCMC is mandatory for exporters applying for an authorisation to import or export (except items listed as ‘Restricted’ items in ITC (HS)) or applying for any other benefit or concession under FTP.
“These above-noted measures are distinguished from post-export remission-based schemes,” the ministry said.
The RCMC certificate validates an exporter dealing with products registered with an agency or organization authorised by the government. The certificate is issued for five financial years by the Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) or Commodity board or Development Authority or other competent authority in India, according to DGFT.
An exporter looking to obtain an RCMC has to declare his mainstream business in the application which is submitted to the related registering authority. To apply for RCMS, the exporter is required to have an active Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) and an updated IEC profile and linked Digital Signature token or Aadhaar e=Signature for submitting the application.
While the RoDTEP scheme enables exporters for rebate of all central, state, and local duties or taxes or levies on the goods exported which weren’t refunded under any other scheme, the RoSCTL scheme compensates for the state and central taxes and levies in addition to the duty drawback scheme on export of apparel or garments and made-ups by way of rebate.
Earlier this year, the government had approved the continuation of the RoSCTL scheme up to March 31 2026. The RoDTEP scheme has also been extended for a year till September 30, 2025 with lower rates of refund of taxes from 0.3 per cent to 3.9 per cent from earlier 0.5 per cent to 4.3 per cent.