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In one line: a duty credit scrip is a transferable credit from the Government of India that pays customs duty rupee-for-rupee; exporters earn them, importers spend them, and ScripX is where the two meet.
India refunds exporters the embedded duties and taxes their goods carried. The refund arrives not as cash but as a duty credit scrip: an electronic credit with a face value that can be used to pay basic customs duty on imports.

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Why scrips trade

Most exporters import little. Their scrips would sit idle and eventually expire, so they sell them. Importers pay customs duty constantly, so a credit that settles duty at face value is worth nearly face value to them. The result is a standing market:
  • Sellers (exporters) convert credits to cash at a small discount to face value.
  • Buyers (importers) fund duty payments below par and keep the difference.
  • ScripX runs the venue: firm quotes, matching, delivery-versus-payment settlement, and payout to the seller’s bank.

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The schemes

These two values are the scheme enum across the API. Full explainers: RoDTEP scheme explained and RoSCTL scheme explained. The enum itself and primary sources are in the Schemes annexure.

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How a scrip comes into existence

A credit is not created by exporting. It is created in four steps, and each one can be missed.
1

Claim on the shipping bill

The exporter declares the RoDTEP or RoSCTL claim when the shipping bill is filed. This declaration cannot be added later.
2

Export and EGM

The goods leave and the Export General Manifest is filed.
3

Scroll

Customs sanctions the claim and generates a scroll against the exporter’s IEC. A scroll is a sanctioned amount, not yet an instrument.
4

Scrip creation

The exporter converts the scrolled amount into an e-scrip in the customs ledger. Only now does it have a scrip number, a face value, and a validity date, and only now can it be used or sold.

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What a scrip can pay

A duty credit scrip pays basic customs duty (BCD) on imports. It does not pay IGST on imports, and it does not pay most cesses and surcharges. That single limit sizes the entire buy side of the market: an importer’s real demand is its BCD bill, not its total customs bill.

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Two rules that shape everything

  • Validity is one year from creation in the ledger, and transfer does not reset it. Unused balance at expiry lapses in full. See Scrip validity and expiry.
  • Transfer is permitted once, from the holder to another party with a valid IEC registered on ICEGATE. Buyers buy to consume, not to resell. See Scrip transfer on ICEGATE explained.

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Key terms

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Where ScripX sits

ScripX runs the venue. An exporter’s idle credits sell at a firm quote, an importer funds duty below face the same way, and the trade is matched, settled delivery versus payment, and paid out with a UTR. A broker desk or an enterprise group can instead book a cross, a pre-arranged deal inside its own book at prices it sets on both sides. Whichever side you are on, it is the same API. See Sell scrips, Buy scrips, Run a desk and Net a group.

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Scrip or duty drawback?

Two things exporters routinely mix up: duty drawback is a cash refund of import duty on inputs, paid to a bank account. A duty credit scrip is a tradable instrument that pays customs duty, and it is what this API trades.

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Frequently asked questions

Policy sits with DGFT (and the Ministry of Textiles for RoSCTL); issuance, the electronic ledger, transfer and utilisation sit with Customs under CBIC, through ICEGATE.
Yes. They are transferable, which is what makes a market possible. Transfer is permitted once, from the holder to another party with a valid IEC registered on ICEGATE.
Because the buyer pays cash today for duty it will pay later, and takes on the risk of consuming the credit before it expires. The discount is the price of that. See Price and discount explained.
No. Duty credit scrips fall under HSN 4907 and are exempt under Notification 02/2017.
No. Scrips transfer whole. A buyer’s requirement is covered by a bundle of whole scrips, with the uncovered remainder reported as residual_paise.
The remaining balance lapses. There is no refund, extension or salvage value, which is why idle inventory gets sold rather than held.

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Go deeper

RoDTEP scheme explained

What it remits, how rates are notified per HS code, and how a claim becomes a scrip.

RoSCTL scheme explained

The apparel and made-ups scheme: chapters 61, 62 and 63, and how it differs from RoDTEP.

How to sell RoDTEP scrips

Converting scroll to scrip, what a buyer checks, and where sellers lose money.

How to buy duty credit scrips

Sizing a requirement against basic customs duty and utilising the credit.

Price and discount explained

What moves the discount, and how basis points convert to rupees.

Glossary

Every term in the market, defined, with the API field that carries it.