FTP - Declaration of intent under MEIS Scheme
DGFT has received various representations from exporters and trade & Industry that many Custom House Agents of exporters have inadvertently ticked "N" in the reward item box while filing the shipping bills with Customs. Even though in many cases the item of export is eligible for MEIS (Merchandise Exports from India Scheme), as "N" has been ticked, such shipping bills have not been transmitted to the DGFT system and exporters are therefore unable to obtain / find these shipping bills on the system for submitting claims under MEIS. The system of marking "Y" or "N" is not new and is in operation since 2012. Since para 3.01 (g) of Hand Book of Procedure to FTP (2015-20) does not allow manual feeding of EDI shipping bill details, filling of such claims is not possible manually.
As per para 3.14 of Hand Book of Procedure to FTP (2015-20), all exporters while filling export shipments under all categories of the shipping bills are required to declare the following intent to claim benefit under MEIS:
"We intend to claim rewards under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)".
Declaration of intent is mandatory with effect from June 1, 2015. CBEC has also issued a circular no. 14/2015 dated April 20, 2015, which requires mandatory declaration of intent from 1.6.2015 onwards. In EDI generated shipping bills, exporters are required to tick mark "Y" in case they intend to claim benefits under MEIS and "N" in case they do not intend to claim benefit under MEIS.
The Director General of Foreign Trade has now allowed the following procedure to be followed where exports have been made between 1.4.2015 to 31.5.2015, and where the exporter has inadvertently marked "N" in the "reward item box" and wishes to seek MEIS benefits:
Exporters shall submit physical copies of free shipping bills after electronic filing of application to RA at the time of submission of application for MEIS rewards in these cases. RA shall grant MEIS rewards after examination of such shipping bills in accordance with other provisions of FTP/HBP.
From 01.06.2015, only those shipping bills, which are transmitted by Custom Authorities to DGFT, shall be considered under MEIS.
DGFT Public Notice No.40/2015-2020., Dated: October 09, 2015