Govt extends incentives to exports via courier medium to boost e-commerce

The government has extended incentives for exports through the courier medium, a move aimed at promoting shipments through e-commerce.

This was informed in the meeting of Board of Trade (BoT) in Mumbai.

"In the realm of e-commerce exports, the Board of Trade was informed by officials from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) that effective immediately, RoDTEP, RoSCTL, and drawback benefits will be extended to all exports made via courier," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

It added that plans to extend these benefits to postal route exports are also in the pipeline, creating a more equitable environment for e-commerce exporters utilising the courier and postal mode.

RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) provides refunds of central, state, and local taxes and levies on exported products that are not covered by other schemes.

The scheme covers a range of sectors, including marine, leather, gems and jewellery, agriculture, electrical, electronics, automobiles, machinery, and plastics.

The rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) scheme covers the entire textile value chain, including apparel and made-ups. However, RoDTEP is not available for apparel and made-ups that are covered under RoSCTL.

Drawback scheme refunds customs and central excise duties charged in imported and excisable material when used as inputs for goods to be exported.

The move assumes significance as the government is planning a big push for e-commerce exports that now stand around USD 2 billion. It is also setting up e-commerce export hubs.

As per estimates, e-commerce exports potential for India is in the range of USD 200-300 billion by 2030. Global e-commerce exports are expected to touch USD 2 trillion in 2030 from USD 800 billion now.

The ministry also said as part of ease of doing business reforms for exporters, the Ministry of Commerce and its public sector enterprise under its administrative control, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) launched two portals that will provide online access to all the services and resolution of grievances.

The Jan Sunwai Portal will be run by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade is a video conference-based virtual interface to streamline communication between stakeholders authorities, addressing trade and industry-related issues, it said.

This portal offers on-demand video conferencing services, in addition to fixed video conference links for regular, scheduled interactions.

The portal's accessibility extends across various offices and autonomous bodies under the Department of Commerce, such as the DGFT, Coffee Board, Tea Board, Spices Board, Rubber Board, APEDA, MPEDA, ITPO, and EIC.

Chairing the BoT meeting, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also inaugurated ECGC's new online service portal, alongside a revamped in-house SMILE-ERP system.

"These innovations mark a significant leap towards paperless processing and faceless service delivery, benefiting both exporters and banks," it said, adding that this transformation will not only streamline customer services but also enhance ECGC's core operational efficiency.

Other issues that were discussed at the meeting include quality, organic and natural farming, mutual recognition agreements that India is going to sign with various countries to facilitate trade.

The free trade agreements, too, came up for discussion at the meeting that also saw participation of the state governments.

The Board of Trade functions as a key platform for collaboration, discussion, and policy recommendations to bolster the growth of India's international trade.

Bringing together representatives from the industry ministry, state governments, industry stakeholders, and trade organisations, the advisory body seeks to shape a thriving trade ecosystem.