Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)

Objective:

The Service exports from India scheme (SEIS) aims to promote export of services from India by providing duty scrip credit for eligible exports. Under the scheme, service providers, located in India, would be rewarded under the SEIS scheme, for all eligible export of services from India. In this article, we look at the Service Exports from India Scheme in detail. Service Exports from India Scheme was earlier termed as Served from India Scheme (SFIS).

Eligibility:

  • Service provider should have minimum net free foreign exchange earnings of US$15,000 in the year of rendering the services.
  • For Individual Service Providers and sole proprietorship, such minimum net free foreign exchange earnings criteria would be US$10,000 in financial year when the services have been rendered.
  • Service provider shall have to have an active Import Export Code (IE Code) at the time of rendering such services for which rewards are claimed.
  • Once the service provider fulfills the above eligibility conditions, he can claim the benefits of SEIS in the form of Duty Credit Scrips but only for those services which are listed in Appendix 3D.

Ineligible categories under SEIS:

Foreign exchange remittances other than those earned for rendering of notified services would not be counted for entitlement. Thus, other sources of foreign exchange earnings such as equity or debt participation,  donations, receipts of repayment of loans etc. and any other inflow of foreign exchange, unrelated to rendering of service, would be ineligible.

Special Provisions:

  • Government reserves the right in public interest, to specify export products or services or markets, which shall not be eligible for computation of entitlement of duty credit scrip.
  • Government reserves the right to impose restriction / change the rate/ceiling on Duty Credit Scrip under this chapter.
  • Government may also notify goods in Appendix 3A which shall not be allowed for debiting through Duty Credit Scrips in case of import.
  • Government may prescribe value cap of any kind for a product(s) or limit total reward per IEC holder under this chapter at any time.

Time Period for Applying for SEIS:

In order to claim the benefit under SEIS, application must be filed within 12 months from the end of financial year of the claim period.