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The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has imposed a limit on the total entitlement under the Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) at Rs 5 crore per exporter for shipments made during 2019-20. Further, it has been notified that the facility to claim benefits under SEIS on payments in Indian rupees would not be available for services rendered in 2019-20. The deadline for submission of SEIS for 2019-20 will be December 31, 2021, and SEIS applications for 2019-20 will become time-barred after December 31 this year.

DGFT has stated that scrips or certificates provided under the scheme can be used for payment of basic and additional customs duties on goods imported. These are freely transferable. If an exporter is not in a position to use the scrip, they can sell it on the open market. Under five per cent rate, the sectors include professional services (like legal, taxation, engineering, veterinary and urban planning); research and development; communication (radio and television, sound recording); construction, educational, environmental, and health. Similarly, under 3 per cent rate, the services include advertising, investigation and security, packaging and printing.

In a separate notification, the DGFT said that an additional option is provided to exporters to avail extension in export obligation period till December 31 this year in case of specified advance authorisations and EPCG authorisations without any composition fees. This benefit is, however, subjected to a five per cent additional export obligation on balance exports to be fulfilled.