Service Exports from India scheme is covered under Chapter 3 of Foreign Trade Policy. Through this Governmental document, we can understand the various policies that the authorities have formulated for the regulation and smooth running of the Scheme. It is a well-versed fact that by exporting service in an appropriate manner we can gain benefits in the form of duty credit scrips. For claiming these benefits one has to submit the applications to the concerned Jurisdictional Regional Authority of DGFT. All the applications are made online. If not submitted to the appropriate RA then the application will be rejected.

[If you want an in-depth knowledge of SEIS Scheme read our article on “All about Service Exports From India Scheme – SEIS”]

Three Important Questions before applying for SEIS Scheme

Who decides where to file for these applications?

The governing body here is DGFT. DGFT through Appendix 1a makes it clear where to file the applications. Let us see which regional bodies are present throughout the country and at what locations.

To Find the Regional Authority and the Jurisdiction for your Area click "Here"

In the above-given document, all the addresses of the regional centers of the DGFT and Special Economic Zones are given.

Are there any provisions made for filing these applications?

In appendix 1A the online addresses and offline addresses are stipulated. These coordinates will provide the appropriate directions for anyone who wants to file the applications.

If there are provisions what are they?

Along with the addresses are also given the geographical areas which are covered by the respective DGFT.

The policy for jurisdiction has been laid down under para 3.06 of Handbook of Procedures (HBP) 2015-2020. It says that:

“Applicant shall have the option to choose Jurisdictional RA on the basis of Corporate Office/ Registered Office/ Head Office / Branch Office address endorsed on IEC for submitting application/applications under MEIS and SEIS. This option needs to be exercised at the beginning of the financial year. Once an option is exercised, no change would be allowed for claims relating to that year. To illustrate, if an exporter has chosen RA Chennai for claiming rewards for exports made in 2015-16, then all claims for exports made in 2015-16, irrespective of the date of application shall be made to RA Chennai only.”

To simplify it let us look at the above paragraph in pointers in a more simplified format.

• The deciding factor as to where the application should be made is decided as according to the address or addresses of the offices mentioned on the IEC of that firm.
• The option of deciding which RA to choose is to be done at the start of the financial year.
• Once an RA is decided there is no changing it until that respective financial year passes.

When we are dealing with Jurisdiction of the office let us look at two necessary bifurcations

• Domestic Tariff Areas is also known as DTA
• Special Economic Zones is also known as SEZ.

Provisions in Application of SEIS Scheme

Let us look at certain conditions here:

• Having a single office in DTA
• Having multiple offices in DTA’s
• Having a single office in a respective SEZ
• Having multiple offices across Multiple SEZ’s
• Having offices both in SEZ and DTA

Having a single office in DTA

If you have a single office then you have to check under whose jurisdiction your office comes under. It is decided on the basis of the address mentioned on the IEC. You have to compulsorily file your application under that RA

For example, You have an office in Chennai. It is the only office through which you are exporting services. The address mentioned on the IEC is the same as your office address. Then for claiming the benefits, you have to apply to Chennai DGFT only.

Having more than one office in DTA

Here you can decide from multiple Regional Authorities as to where you are going to file your applications.

For example: Consider you have offices both in Mumbai and Ahmedabad. You can choose as to where you want to apply. You have the option to apply both in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Note:  1) You have to exercise this step of choosing at the start of the financial year.

2) Both the addresses should be mentioned on the IEC. If only one address is mentioned then you have to follow the procedure as according to Case 1

Having a single office in a respective SEZ

If you have an office in Special Economic Zone and you want to file an application for claiming benefits under SEIS, then you have to do it to the respective Development Commissioner of SEZ as mentioned in Appendix 1A above.

Having offices in Multiple SEZ’s

If you have offices in Multiple SEZ’s then you have to file an application to the Development Commissioner of the respective SEZ which has received the most foreign exchange earnings.

Having offices both in SEZ and DTA

In this case, you can have to file your application to the DGFT of your choosing.

Note:

• The application will be singular
• This step of choice needs to be exercised at the start of the financial year

For convenience make sure that if you have offices in multiple locations make it a point to add the addresses of these locations into your IEC.

What happens if there are zero earnings either in DTA or SEZ units?

In case one of your units (either DTA or SEZ) have zero earnings then you don't have to file your application there. You have to file your application with the respective authority which has some of the other earnings (non-zero earnings). It will be Development Commissioner in case your SEZ unit has some of the other earnings and Jurisdictional DGFT in case your DTA unit have some of the other earnings. Both of these decisions in terms of selection of the Development Commissioner or the Jurisdictional DGFT should be done according to Appendix 1A given by the DGFT.

[To know in-depth detail about the documents required for the SEIS Application and how you can obtain them Read our article ” Documents Required for SEIS Scheme Application – Updated List (2019)“]

Why Us?

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For Free Consultancy regarding the SEIS benefits, Contact us!