The Electronic Duty Credit Ledger on ICEGATE, Explained

What the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger is

The Electronic Duty Credit Ledger, or EDCL, is the government's own record of your duty credits, maintained inside ICEGATE, the customs national portal. When a RoDTEP or RoSCTL scroll matures at the port, the duty credit is created as an electronic scrip in this ledger. There is no paper certificate to store and no physical instrument to lose. The ledger is the single source of truth for what each scrip is worth, who holds it, and whether it is still valid.

How a scrip sits in the ledger

Each e-scrip in the ledger carries a small set of facts that define it: a unique scrip reference, the scheme it came from (RoDTEP or RoSCTL), a face value, the balance remaining, the issue date, and the expiry date. The face value is what the scrip discharges against basic customs duty. The balance can differ from face once you have used part of it, because a scrip can be applied against duty in more than one go until it is spent or expires. The face value explainer covers why face and market value are two different numbers.

What the statuses mean

A scrip in the ledger is not a single frozen state; it moves through a lifecycle. In plain terms, a scrip is created when the scroll matures, active while it holds a usable balance and sits before its expiry, and closed once it is fully used, transferred away, or expired. On Scriphouse the same lifecycle is surfaced in your Scrip Ledger as clear labels such as Issued, Reserved, and Transferred, so you always know whether a scrip is ready to use, in the middle of a trade, or already moved. The moment a scrip is issued and holds balance, it is usable and sellable.

Checking that status is a routine you should be able to do on demand. If you want the step-by-step, the guide to checking your scrip balance on ICEGATE walks through it.

How a transfer works

The feature that makes scrips tradable is transfer. RoDTEP and RoSCTL e-scrips are freely transferable, and a transfer is executed on ICEGATE itself: the scrip moves from the seller's ledger to the buyer's ledger, both identified by their IEC. Once the transfer is recorded, the buyer holds the scrip with its full remaining balance and can apply it against their own import duty. The government ledger, not a private document, is what proves the buyer now owns it. The mechanics of doing a transfer are covered in how to transfer a duty-credit scrip on ICEGATE.

Why the ledger being the record matters for trust

Because the EDCL is the authoritative record, a buyer can verify a scrip before paying: its balance, its expiry, and its status are all visible on the government's own system rather than taken on a seller's word. On Scriphouse that live ledger status is one of the checks in provenance screening, alongside the shipping-bill chain, seller IEC history, and KYC. A market that reads the ledger before it trades is a market where a buyer is not trusting a screenshot. How that screening runs is covered in how scrip provenance screening works.

How Scriphouse settles against the ledger

Because the ledger is where ownership actually changes, settlement is built around it. When a trade is agreed, buyer funds are secured before the scrip moves; only then does the transfer execute on ICEGATE from seller to buyer. The seller payout is released against confirmation of the transfer and carries a bank UTR, on the same business day. If the ledger transfer fails, the trade unwinds and refunds in full the same day. Nobody moves a scrip on faith and waits for money, and nobody sends money and waits for a scrip. The same-day settlement explainer covers the T+0 flow.

Getting registered to hold and move scrips

To hold, use, or transfer scrips you need to be registered on ICEGATE against your IEC, with the ledger enabled. That registration is the gate to the whole system. If you are setting it up, the guide to ICEGATE registration for scrip holders covers what you need in place before a scrip can move.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger?

It is the government's electronic record of duty credits, maintained inside ICEGATE. RoDTEP and RoSCTL scrips are created and held here as e-scrips, each with a face value, remaining balance, issue date, and expiry. It is the authoritative source of truth for what a scrip is worth and who holds it.

How do I see my scrips on ICEGATE?

You view them by logging in to ICEGATE against your registered IEC and opening the duty-credit ledger, where each scrip shows its reference, balance, and expiry. A step-by-step is in the guide to checking your scrip balance on ICEGATE. If the ledger is empty when you expect a credit, why a RoDTEP scroll has not generated covers what blocks the chain before a scrip ever reaches the ledger.

How is a scrip transferred to a buyer?

The transfer is executed on ICEGATE itself. The scrip moves from the seller's ledger to the buyer's ledger, both identified by IEC, and once recorded the buyer holds the full remaining balance. The government ledger, not a private transfer letter, is what proves ownership has changed.

Can a scrip be partly used and still transferred?

A scrip carries a remaining balance once part of it has been applied against duty, and that balance is what moves with it. What cannot happen is a partial transfer: Regulation 7(2) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021 provides that the duty credit is transferred at a time for the entire amount in the e-scrip and that transfer in part is not permitted. The scrip moves whole, or it does not move.