Duty Drawback & RoDTEP claim on post export with Free shipping Bill

[Niruban Chakravarthy]

Dear Experts,

We have exported a shipment under Free shipping bill in the year 2023. now can we convert the Free shipping bill into Duty Drawback & RoDTEP scheme under sec.149 of Customs Act 1962.

The Customs Location where the export was made is not registered with AD Code for claiming Export benefits then (in 2023), Our Customs Broker suggested export the shipment under Free SB mode, Since the order was most urgent, and we have very short time to ship the consignment, we did this without completing the AD code registration.

The Export was made under LUT.

please advise whether we are eligible or is this possible to claim.

AI Summary

Post-export Shipping Bill amendment may support Duty Drawback and fact-sensitive RoDTEP claims where contemporaneous eligibility evidence exists.
Post-export amendment of a Free Shipping Bill may be pursued under section 149 of the Customs Act, 1962, where documentary evidence supporting eligibility existed at export. Duty Drawback claims have comparatively stronger support for conversion or processing of Free Shipping Bills, although departmental time limits may be raised. RoDTEP is more fact-sensitive because its declaration is ordinarily required in the Shipping Bill. Lack of AD Code registration is not necessarily a substantive disqualification, and contemporaneous records should support the reasons for filing under a Free Shipping Bill.