Page 126 - SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT FOR 2020-2021

80 2020-2021 SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT
Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)
Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) has been introduced by the Government of India with effect from 01.04.2015 under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20. MEIS is a duty scrip given as a reward by the Government to an exporter of goods. The value of the scrip ranges from 2% to 7% of the FOB value of goods exported. There are more than 4000 tariff lines which are eligible for MEIS. The scrips can be used to offset import duties and are freely transferable against goods imported / domestically procured as per para 3.02 of Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
DRI has booked numerous cases against various exporters who mis-classified their export goods under incorrect Customs Tariff Heading to avail MEIS benefits at a higher rate, which was not available or was available at a lower rate.
Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)
Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) has been
introduced by the Government of India with effect from 01.04.2015 under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20, replacing the erstwhile ‘Served From India Scheme (SFIS)’ under the FTP 2009-15. Under SEIS, rewards are given to the service exporters in the form of duty credit scrips used for making payment of customs duties. The benefit under the SEIS is admissible to major services, such as legal service, accounting service, architectural service, engineering service, educational service, hospital service, and other business services.
The usual modus operandi resorted to by the fraudsters is to mis-declare the actual nature of service provided, to fit in the list of services eligible for SEIS benefits. Investigations in many cases have revealed existence of a whole ecosystem, wherein the chartered accountant in collusion with the company claiming the benefit, go for mis-declaration. For example, software, information technology and computer related services covered under CPC 84 are not eligible for SEIS benefit. However, many export service providers had