The Department of Revenue had allocated Rs 9000 Cr for the incentive under MEIS Scheme for the FY 2020-21 due to limited fund, hence the DGFT had blocked MEIS Online Module on the online portal of the DGFT website from accepting the fresh ap
plications for shipping bills with Let Export Order beginning April 1, 2020, and stops the MEIS License from 23rd July.
MEIS Scheme provides the goods exporters incentive in the range of 2% -5% on the FOB value of eligible exports in the form of transferable duty credit scrip which can be used in waiver of customs duty or in case not having the import it can be sold at market rate and the exporters are complaining that the decision of Department of Revenue (DoR) will affect more to small exporters due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as orders have fallen sharply leaving many exporters battling for survival. They said genuine exporters should be protected and allowed to claim the benefits for exports while avoiding the possibility of fraud.
To provide the relief to lakhs of exporters the Government has given approval for the issuance of scrip under the MEIS Scheme in between September to December.
As Per Notification no. 30/2015-2020 notified on 1st September 2020 MEIS Benefits granted to an IEC holder shall not exceed 2 Cr on the exports between 01.09.2020 to 31.12.2020. The IEC holders who have not made any export between 01.09.2019 to 31.08.2020 would not be eligible to do an application under MEIS Scheme or IEC Obtained on or after 01.09.2020 would not be eligible to file for the benefits under MEIS Scheme for the exports made with effect from 01.09.2020.
The DGFT may change the MEIS benefits cap to ensure that the total allocated claim under MEIS Scheme for the period 01.09.2020 to 31.12.2020 does not exceed the allocated amount as the Government has allocated Rs 5000 Cr to issue the MEIS Scrip between the given Period. MEIS benefits shall not be available for the exports made with effect from 01.01.2021.