Circular No. 30/2026 states the Board received representations from trade and industry regarding difficulties in cases of drawback under Section 74 or refund under Section 27 of the Customs Act, 1962, where import duty was paid wholly or partly through duty credit scrips, and notes that field formations were following divergent practices, some re-crediting the amount into scrips and others granting it in cash. The Circular references Para 5.3 of C&AG’s Report No. 33/2025 on the Duty Drawback Scheme, which observed that drawback under Section 74 was in certain cases incorrectly granted in cash where Basic Customs Duty had been discharged through Duty Credit Scrips.

It clarifies that where duty was paid through scrip(s) at the time of import, drawback under Section 74 or refund under Section 27 becoming subsequently admissible shall be granted through re-credit and not in cash. Where duty was paid through RoDTEP/RoSCTL scrips, the drawback/refund shall be granted by re-credit into the electronic credit ledger of the IEC holder, with the re-credited amount available for generation of e-scrip(s) to be utilised in the manner prescribed under Notification No. 75/2021-Customs (N.T.) dated 23.09.2021; the Directorate General of Systems is stated to be developing the corresponding module on the Customs Automated System (CAS), with a detailed advisory to follow upon completion. For legacy schemes such as MEIS and SEIS, where re-credit of scrips is not feasible at the time of sanctioning drawback/refund, the Customs authority shall issue a re-credit Certificate for revalidation of duty credit scrips from DGFT, containing details of the scrip utilised, the date of import of goods subsequently re-exported, and the amount debited at import. Difficulties in implementation may be brought to the Board’s notice.

Circular No. 31/2026 states that Audit Para 7.1 of the same Audit Report 33 of 2025 observed that no prescribed form exists for a Deficiency Memo for processing duty drawback claims under Section 74 of the Customs Act, 1962.

It directs field formations to issue Deficiency Memos under Section 74 in the format enclosed as Annexure-I. The Annexure-I format lists 14 documents/items of information to be sought from the claimant, including Annexure-II, calculation sheet, shipping bill copy, export invoice and packing list, export bill of lading, bill of entry copy, import invoice and packing list, evidence of duty payment at import (TR-6 challan), self-declaration or GST officer certificate regarding IGST/compensation cess credit or refund, a notarized affidavit on Rs. 100 stamp paper, RBI permission for re-export where necessary, and any other relevant documents. The format states that if the requirements specified in the Deficiency Memo are not complied with within thirty days, the claim shall be treated as not filed for the purpose of Rule 5(1), as per the provisions of Rule 5(4)(b) of the Re-export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Custom Duties) Rules, 2017. Difficulties in implementation may be brought to the Board’s notice.