Why your RoDTEP scroll has stopped, and the steps to get it restored

On 8 October 2026 the Commissioner of Customs at Nhava Sheva (NS-II) issued Public Notice 128/2026. It answers exporters who found that RoDTEP scrolls were not being generated on some shipping bills. The cause is an alert against their IEC in the customs system, ICES 1.5. The notice says the DGFT recommended the suspension, and that it covers 850 IECs that did not report the Annual RoDTEP Return (ARR) for FY 2023-24.

Why the scroll stopped#

Since October 2024, an exporter claiming RoDTEP has to file an ARR on the DGFT portal by 31 March of the following financial year. The rule is Para 4.94 of the Handbook of Procedures 2023. It says the requirement begins with IECs whose total RoDTEP claim exceeds ₹1 crore in a financial year, across all 8-digit tariff codes. It also says that not filing leads to denial of RoDTEP benefits and no further scroll-out of claims on shipping bills.

For FY 2023-24 the date moved more than once. DGFT's last extension, in Public Notice 46/2025-26, ran to 31 March 2026 with a composition fee of ₹15,000. That notice warned that after the extended date, Para 4.94 would apply, including denial of RoDTEP benefits and scroll-out of scrips. The Nhava Sheva notice cites that notice.

What to do, in this order#

1. Find your IEC in the annexure. The notice lists 850 IECs, and every row reads "Not Filed". Some are shown as a ten-digit code and some in PAN format, so search for the form your IEC takes. Check the IEC, not the company name.
2. Check your own ARR record. Open the RoDTEP section on the DGFT portal (the RoDTEP section) and see whether an FY 2023-24 return was ever submitted. If you think you filed and are still listed, take the filing acknowledgement to DGFT, because the list is DGFT's recommendation.
3. File the return if it was not filed. It is product-wise. The format in Appendix 4RR asks for the export quantity and FOB value, the taxes paid on inputs, transport, electricity, stamp duty and fuel, and the RoDTEP you accrued, with a separate sheet for each product. It ends with a declaration that the same taxes were not claimed under any other mechanism. The format is addressed to the manufacturer or manufacturer-exporter, so a merchant exporter should ask DGFT how it applies. Keep the records behind the figures for five years, because DGFT can ask for them.
4. Ask DGFT to remove the alert. The Customs notice says exporters must comply with the ARR filing provisions and "thereafter, take up the matter with DGFT for removal/revocation of the alert". DG Systems removes the alert in consultation with DGFT. Customs does not remove it.
5. Wait for it to show in ICES 1.5. Once the alert is removed and the system reflects it, the notice says the concerned shipping bills "shall by default get processed" for the scroll, subject to the other conditions and system requirements. You do not re-file them.

Keep a list of the affected shipping bills, with numbers and dates, from the first day. It is what DGFT and your customs broker will ask for.

What the notice leaves open#

• A late filing route. The 31 March 2026 date has passed. The DGFT notices we read give no fee and no window after it. Earlier notices set fees of ₹10,000, ₹20,000 (for filing after 30 June 2025, under Public Notice 27/2024-25) and ₹15,000, and each replaced the one before, so do not assume any still applies. Ask DGFT what the portal accepts today and at what fee.
• How to ask. The Customs notice names DGFT but no form, email address or officer. We found none in the notice, and none in a later DGFT public notice on the portal listing. Difficulties in implementing the Customs notice can be brought to the Commissioner's notice.
• How long it takes. The notice gives no timeline. The original 2024 text of Para 4.94 said scrolls would resume within 45 days, but only until an online message exchange between DGFT and Customs was set up. It is not a promise for this case, so do not plan your cash on it.
• Shipping bills filed while the alert is on. The notice speaks of the "concerned" shipping bills. It does not say whether bills filed during the suspension are scrolled later in the same way.
• Your position on the ₹1 crore threshold. The notice does not say whether every listed IEC crossed it. If you are listed and your FY 2023-24 claims were below ₹1 crore, say so to DGFT with the figures.

This article follows the notices as they stand on 13 October 2026. The Customs notice itself records that DGFT is the body to ask for further detail, so read the current position on the DGFT portal before you file.