When Does a Duty-Credit Scrip Expire, and How Not to Lose It

The clock: two years from creation in the ledger

A duty-credit scrip does not last forever. Regulation 6(2) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021 provides that an e-scrip is valid for two years from the date of its creation in the ledger, and once a scrip expires its value is gone, it cannot be sold and it cannot be applied against duty. Unlike a claim you can chase later, an expired scrip is simply money left on the table. That single fact is why the expiry date matters as much as the face value.

The whole rule, provision by provision, and it is the same for a RoDTEP scrip and a RoSCTL scrip because both are e-scrips under the same regulations:

• How long a scrip lives. Two years from the date the e-scrip is created in the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger, under Regulation 6(2) as amended by Notification 79/2022-Customs (N.T.) dated 15 September 2022.
• When the clock starts. At the e-scrip's creation in the ledger on ICEGATE, not at the shipping bill and not at the export date. The gap between those dates is real, and the next section is about it.
• What a transfer does to it. Nothing. Regulation 7(3) provides that validity does not change on account of a transfer, so a buyer inherits the remaining window, never a fresh two years.
• What happens at the end. Credit unutilised at the end of the period lapses, and Regulation 6(3) provides that lapsed credit is not re-generated. The regulations contain no revalidation route.

If you have read one year, or eighteen months

Published guidance on scrip validity contradicts itself, and the contradiction has a date. As notified in 2021, Regulation 6(2) said one year. Notification 79/2022-Customs (N.T.) dated 15 September 2022 substituted two years, in Regulation 6(2) and in Regulation 7(3) both. So a page that says one year is quoting the regulation as it stood before 15 September 2022, and a page that says eighteen months is quoting something that was never this regulation at all. The figure to plan on is the one in the amended text: two years from creation.

The clock nobody chooses to start

There is a second period in the regulations, and collapsing the two is how most published guidance goes wrong. Regulation 4(1) gives an exporter the option to combine duty credits into an e-scrip within one year from the date the scroll is generated. The proviso is the part that matters: if you do not exercise the option within that year, the customs automated system combines the scrolls customs station-wise and creates the e-scrip on its own.

So credit is not lost by inattention, but control of the start date is. A scrip created automatically has a two-year clock nobody chose to start, which is exactly how credit lapses unnoticed in a ledger nobody was watching. If you export on a rhythm and have never looked at the ledger, this is the paragraph to act on.

Why the price falls before the deadline

The loss is not only at the very end. A scrip loses value as it approaches expiry, because a buyer has less time to apply it against duty. A scrip comfortably clear of expiry earns full value; as the usable window narrows the price steps down, and close to lapse the sensible move is to sell rather than hold. There is no fixed table for that, because what a shorter window costs depends on demand on the day, but the direction never changes. So the real cost of waiting shows up well before the scrip lapses. How scrips are priced covers what else moves the number. A scrip does not improve with age.

Where the expiry date lives

You do not have to track it on a spreadsheet. When a scrip issues into your Scrip Ledger, its expiry travels with it, and the status (Issued, Reserved, Transferred) and the expiry band are visible against the scrip. The ledger is the single place the clock is shown, so the information you need to act is next to the scrip itself, not buried in an ICEGATE screen you have to go hunting for.

The simplest way to never lose one: Autopilot

The surest defence against a lapsed scrip is to not rely on remembering. Autopilot sells every future scroll above a floor you set such as 97.00% of face, whole scrips only, and holds anything under it. Because it acts as scrips issue rather than waiting on your attention, a scrip does not sit in the ledger drifting toward expiry unnoticed. Anything outside your guard-rails is not sold quietly; it is held for your tap. You keep the veto without keeping the calendar reminder.

If you would rather sell by hand

If you prefer to sell manually, the rule of thumb is to move a scrip while it is comfortably clear of expiry, when it still earns full value, rather than letting it drift into the narrow window. Sell oldest expiry first. One firm Sell Now offer, priced live against real demand and locked for sixty seconds, turns the scrip into cash the same business day. The goal is simply this: decide before the clock decides for you.

Scrip expiring soon? Sell it before it lapses

A scrip close to expiry is still worth real money today and worth exactly nothing the day after it lapses, so the one wrong move is to keep holding it. The walkthroughs are selling RoDTEP scrips and selling RoSCTL scrips: one firm offer, held for sixty seconds, settled the same business day with a UTR. Read how scrips are priced to see exactly how the expiry band moves the number, and how Scriphouse works for exporters for the whole route.

Frequently asked questions

When does a duty-credit scrip expire?

RoDTEP and RoSCTL scrips expire two years from the date they are created in the ledger, under Regulation 6(2) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021. Once a scrip expires it cannot be sold or applied against duty, so its value is lost. The expiry date travels with the scrip in your Scrip Ledger.

Is a duty-credit scrip valid for one year or eighteen months?

Neither, today. Regulation 6(2) said one year as notified in 2021, and Notification 79/2022-Customs (N.T.) dated 15 September 2022 substituted two years in both Regulation 6(2) and Regulation 7(3). Guidance that says one year predates that amendment, and eighteen months was never this regulation. A transfer does not reset the two-year clock.

Does a scrip lose value before it expires?

Yes. Price falls as expiry nears because a buyer has less time to use the scrip. A scrip comfortably clear of expiry earns full value, and the price steps down as the window narrows. There is no fixed schedule for it, because what a shorter window costs depends on demand on the day, but the direction is always the same.

How do I make sure I never lose a scrip to expiry?

Set Autopilot, which sells every future scroll above a floor you set (such as 97.00%), whole scrips only, as each scrip issues rather than waiting on your attention. Anything outside your guard-rails is held for your tap. If you sell by hand instead, move each scrip while it is comfortably clear of expiry and sell oldest expiry first.

How long is a RoDTEP scrip valid for?

Two years from the date the e-scrip is created in the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger on ICEGATE, under Regulation 6(2) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021. The clock runs from creation in the ledger, not from the shipping bill, and it does not reset when the scrip is transferred.