KOCHI: Kochi Customs has detected a significant amount of revenue leakage through export fraud, involving wrongful availing of incentives by exporters across the country.
The fraud, carried out through a collusion-based scheme, initially revealed a loss of Rs 51.3 crore across nearly 10 formations, including seaports, inland container depots, and air cargo complexes. Following this, the officials intensified inspections across other formations, which uncovered a much larger revenue leakage of around Rs 130 crore, said a top customs source.
“The Union government offers several schemes and incentives, including import duty exemptions, to promote exports. However, some exporters misused these provisions by availing dual benefits, such as claiming incentives without holding valid licences,” said a source.
He stated: “According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme was introduced from September 23, 2021, offering benefits based on the FOB value of exports.
The scheme was extended from March 11, 2024, to additional categories such as Advance Authorisation (AA), SEZs, and EOUs. However, some exporters under the Duty Free Import Authorisation (DFIA) category allegedly availed RoDTEP benefits by posing as Advance Authorisation holders, he said.
“An alert circular was issued, following which recovery proceedings are under way nationwide. Some exporters have begun returning the wrongly availed benefits, with around Rs 1 crore recovered from Mangaluru so far,” the official added.