Substantial compliance protects MEIS claims where electronic filing omissions do not override the export record and intent to claim benefit.

A procedural omission in an electronic shipping portal did not justify denial of MEIS export benefits where the shipping bill and accompanying export documents otherwise clearly showed the exporter's intention to claim the reward. The Court treated the unchecked online field as a mechanical defect and held that the claim had to be assessed on the full contemporaneous record, not rejected for one inadvertent entry. It also held that a circular-based six-month restriction could not bar consideration when the claim was otherwise evidenced in the export documents and portal data. The denial of MEIS benefits was therefore unsustainable, and reconsideration on the basis of the full export record was upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether failure to tick the 'Yes' box in the online shipping portal, despite other entries and shipping documents showing an intention to claim MEIS reward, could justify denial of export benefit. (ii) Whether a circular-based six-month restriction on entertaining such claims could bar consideration where the omission was inadvertent and the export record otherwise manifested the claim.

Issue (i): Whether failure to tick the 'Yes' box in the online shipping portal, despite other entries and shipping documents showing an intention to claim MEIS reward, could justify denial of export benefit.

Analysis: The intention to claim the benefit was not confined to the unchecked box. The shipping bill and other details uploaded in the portal indicated the exporter's claim to MEIS reward, and the export verification already undertaken at the time of shipment was sufficient to identify the goods. A purely mechanical rejection based on one omitted field would ignore the manifested intent and the surrounding record.

Conclusion: The omission was not a valid ground to deny the claim.

Issue (ii): Whether a circular-based six-month restriction on entertaining such claims could bar consideration where the omission was inadvertent and the export record otherwise manifested the claim.

Analysis: The limitation had no rational basis where the claim was otherwise clearly evidenced in the export documents and portal entries. The Court found no justification for drawing a distinction between exporters who raised the issue within six months and those who did so later, when the omission was merely inadvertent and the underlying entitlement had to be assessed on the overall record.

Conclusion: The six-month restriction could not defeat consideration of the claim.

Final Conclusion: The denial of MEIS benefits was unsustainable, and the direction to reconsider the claim on the basis of the full export record was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural omission in an electronic filing does not defeat an export incentive claim where the exporter's intention is otherwise clearly manifested in the contemporaneous record and the claim can be assessed on substantial compliance.

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