Commerce ministry to start online module for filing registration for interest equalisation scheme
The commerce ministry on Tuesday said it has decided to operationalise a new online module for filing of electronic registration for interest equalisation scheme for exporters, a move aimed at effective monitoring of the scheme.
On March 9, the RBI extended the scheme for pre- and post-shipment rupee credit for MSME exporters till March 2024.
Under this, exporters get subsidies for pre- and post-shipment rupee export credit.
The interest rates under the scheme have been revised downwards to 2 per cent and 3 per cent for specified categories of MSME manufacturer exporters, as against the earlier rates of 5 per cent and 3 pre cent.
“In order to capture granular data about the beneficiaries of the scheme and its effective monitoring, it has been decided to operationalise a new online module for filing of electronic registration for Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) w.e.f. April 01, 2022,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a trade notice.
It said all exporters seeking benefits under the scheme need to apply online by navigating to the DGFT website.
A Unique IES Identification Number (UIN) will be generated automatically which is required to be submitted to the concerned bank when availing interest equalisation against their pre- and post-shipment rupee export credit applications.
The UIN generated would have a validity of one year from the date of registration, during which an application for availing benefit of IES can be submitted to the concerned bank.
The auto generated acknowledgement containing UIN needs to be submitted to the concerned bank along with the prescribed application by the bank, if any, for availing benefit under IES, it added.
“It will be mandatory for exporters to submit UIN acknowledgment to concerned banks for all applications made on or after April 01, 2022,” it said.