UP Air Freight Subsidy: Courier Shipments and Buyer Paid Freight

Verified as on 25 October 2026 against Government Order No. 829/18-4-2025 dated 6 November 2025 (Air Freight Rationalisation Scheme) with its claim form, affidavit and CA certificate formats, read in the Hindi original; paragraph 8.2 of the UP Export Promotion Policy 2025-30; the Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010 of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC); CBIC Circular No. 15/2024-Customs dated 12 September 2024; and the Incoterms 2020 rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Written by Pratham Agarwal, Founder, Rasp International.

Key facts for courier, buyer paid and out of state shipments

Why we wrote this

Government Order 829 is written around one picture: the exporter books air cargo, pays the airline or forwarder and holds an airway bill. Many UP exporters do not ship that way. Small orders go by express courier, large buyers often appoint their own forwarder and pay the freight, and many consignments leave from Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru.

Our main guide to the UP air freight subsidy covers the rates, worked examples, the 180 days and the documents. This post takes three questions it leaves open: does a courier shipment count, does your sale term leave you any freight to claim, and does the airport matter.

Rasp International was founded in 2019, has served 500+ exporters since 2019 and is ISO 9001:2015 certified. We file claims on the client’s behalf, in the client unit’s own name.

What Government Order 829 covers, in its own words

The Air Freight Rationalisation Scheme is a Government of Uttar Pradesh grant that pays back part of the air freight an MSME exporter unit of the state spent on goods of UP origin, run by the Export Promotion Bureau UP under the UP Export Promotion Policy 2025-30. The quotes below are our English renderings of the Hindi order.

• Paragraph 1: the benefit is admissible on export “through any air cargo complex located in the country”, if the state of origin of the exported products is Uttar Pradesh.
• Paragraph 3, in full: “Financial assistance will be given at 30 percent of the amount spent on the freight of the goods (which will also include other expenses related to cargo handling) on exports made by air from Uttar Pradesh of perishable goods, agricultural and horticultural products and industrial products, or at the rate of Rs 150 per kg (whichever is less). Under this scheme an exporter unit will be allowed financial assistance of at most Rs 10.00 lakh in one financial year.”
• Paragraph 4.1: after the unit sends the goods by air to the foreign buyer, it files online within 180 days of the date of sending.
• CA certificate format: the CA certifies the goods, kilograms, dates, air cargo complex and country, and that an amount “has been spent by the unit” as the air freight of those goods, “verified from the records of the unit and found correct”.

So Government Order 829 pays on two things only: the air freight and the other cargo handling costs, in each case an amount the claiming unit itself spent. It does not name the truck to the airport, cargo insurance, duties or taxes, and the CA certificate leaves no room for freight the buyer paid. Anything outside those words is not settled by the order: check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP in writing before you add it to a claim.

Paragraph 8.2 of the UP Export Promotion Policy 2025-30, in the English translation published by Invest UP (the Hindi text prevails), puts it plainly: 30 percent of “the expenditure incurred by the exporting unit”. An air cargo complex is the cargo terminal at an airport where export cargo is received, cleared and loaded. The order uses the term without defining it.

Courier and express shipments: what the order says and what it does not

Government Order 829 does not use the word courier or express in its 12 paragraphs or annexures. It speaks of goods exported by air through an air cargo complex, proved by a shipping bill, a Let Export Order (LEO, the customs permission to ship) copy and an airway bill.

A courier parcel does fly. Regulation 2 of the Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010, CBIC Notification No. 36/2010-Customs (N.T.) dated 5 May 2010 as amended, covers goods “carried by an Authorised Courier by air”. But under CBIC Circular No. 15/2024-Customs dated 12 September 2024, courier shipments are cleared on the Express Cargo Clearance System (ECCS) at notified International Courier Terminals. Neither Government Order 829 nor its forms say whether such a terminal is an air cargo complex. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP before you put a courier shipment in a claim.

Four ways a small air shipment can leave India

• Courier Shipping Bill IV (CSB-IV): gifts, commercial samples and prototypes where no foreign exchange moves, regulation 6(3) and Form H. No sale, so no bank realisation certificate, which Government Order 829 lists.
• Courier Shipping Bill V (CSB-V): commercial goods involving foreign exchange, Form HA, filed by the courier with a shipping bill number, courier airway bill number, declared weight and terms of invoice.
• Courier export with incentives: where Duty Drawback, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) or Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) is claimed, CBIC Notification No. 60/2024-Customs (N.T.) and Circular No. 15/2024-Customs, both dated 12 September 2024, have the courier file a shipping bill on ICEGATE (the customs online filing portal). The goods still pass through the International Courier Terminal.
• Express company, regular cargo: an express company can also move a consignment as normal air cargo on a regular shipping bill through the air cargo complex. That is the plain Government Order 829 case, so ask which route yours took.

Courier set-up and incentives are in our cross border e-commerce export setup guide, and duty refunds on courier parcels in our post on drawback and RoDTEP on courier and postal exports. Parcels sent through an India Post Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra (a post office export centre) fall under Government Order 838/18-4-2025 dated 10 November 2025, which pays 75 percent of net postage up to Rs 1,00,000 a year: see the UP post office export subsidy post.

Claim form lines for regular air cargo and a courier shipment

Your sale term decides who paid the air freight

Government Order 829 does not mention Incoterms rules. Through the CA certificate it asks one thing: how much the unit spent on air freight. Sea shipments raise the same question under Government Order 828, covered in our post on the UP port freight subsidy and your sale terms. The ICC Incoterms 2020 rules say who books and pays the main carriage, so the sale term tells you whether any freight is yours to claim. The ICC splits its eleven rules into seven for any mode of transport and four, including Free On Board (FOB), for sea and inland waterway transport only, as its Incoterms 2020 questions and answers explain. The table names each rule in full.

The airway bill shows whether freight is prepaid (paid at origin, normally by the shipper) or collect, and the forwarder’s invoice shows whose name it is billed in. Those papers, not the price term on your invoice, show who spent the freight.

Flying from Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru

Paragraph 1 of Government Order 829 allows export through any air cargo complex in the country, if the state of origin of the products is Uttar Pradesh. The order’s opening explains that the earlier scheme covered complexes inside the state and the UP Export Promotion Policy 2025-30 extended it to complexes outside. The rate, the Rs 10 lakh cap, the 180 days and the district route under paragraph 4.3 stay the same. Our UP export subsidy deadline calculator gives the last date from the airway bill date.

• Show UP origin. The paragraph 1 test is where the goods come from, not the airport or your office, so keep the records that tie the goods to Uttar Pradesh.
• Name the right complex. The CA certificate format has a blank for the air cargo complex the goods left from. Use the one on the airway bill.
• Register your Authorised Dealer (AD) code for that customs location: the CBIC advisory on ICEGATE asks for the customs location with each bank account. See our AD code registration guide.
• Keep the road leg apart. Paragraph 3 counts air freight with cargo handling. It does not name the truck to the airport, so as we read the order the truck stays out. Government Order 828/18-4-2025 dated 6 November 2025 sets limits per 20 foot and 40 foot container to a gateway port (see our gateway port freight subsidy guide), so ask the Bureau before putting an airport truck there.
• Watch a domestic first leg. If goods fly from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi first, the order does not say which complex to name. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.

What most people get wrong

Three readings cause most trouble. “Through any air cargo complex located in the country” in paragraph 1 widens the airports, not the route. The price term is not the payment: the CA certificate records the amount “spent by the unit”. And FOB, CFR and CIF are ICC rules for sea and inland waterway transport only. The official papers also disagree in two places:

• Annexure numbers: the supporting documents list in Government Order 829 calls the CA certificate “Annexure 2”. The page actually headed Annexure 2 is the affidavit on Rs 10 stamp paper, and the CA certificate format carries no number. Keep both ready and ask the Bureau which the portal expects.
• The UPEPC summary page: read on 19 October 2026, it still shows air cargo assistance of 30 percent or Rs 150 per kg “upto the limit of 5.00 lacs per unit per annum” for exporters registered with the Bureau. Government Order 829 sets Rs 10 lakh in paragraph 3 and asks for MSME status and both registrations in paragraph 9. Go by the order.

Who this route works for and who it does not

• An MSME manufacturer or merchant unit of Uttar Pradesh registered with the Bureau and UPEPC at the time of the work, paragraph 9.
• Goods of UP origin flown from any air cargo complex in India, paragraph 1.
• A freight bill in the unit’s name and paid by it, as on CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU or DDP terms.
• A claim filed within 180 days of air dispatch, paragraph 4.1.

• Freight the buyer paid: EXW, FCA, freight collect or the buyer’s courier account.
• Freight paid by another firm. As we read paragraph 3, also insurance, import duties and the truck to the airport, unless the Bureau says otherwise in writing.
• Courier rows before a written answer from the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• A cost already paid under another central or state scheme for the same purpose, paragraph 7.

Edge cases

One order, two routes

A unit flies 550 kg of an order as cargo from Delhi and sends 50 kg of urgent pieces by courier. The cargo part is the plain case; the courier part waits for the Bureau. Each part has its own date of sending and its own 180 day clock under paragraph 4.1.

Freight paid by you and charged to the buyer

Some exporters add the air freight as a separate invoice line. The unit’s books show the spending and the buyer pays it back. Government Order 829 says nothing about recovery, and its paragraph 7 bar covers other government schemes, not a buyer. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP and tell your CA how the freight was billed.

A sample first, then the order

A free sample travels by courier on CSB-IV. Government Order 811/18-4-2025 dated 6 November 2025 has a separate head for free trade samples, up to Rs 2 lakh per exporter per year, explained in our UP marketing development assistance guide. The paid order that follows, flown as cargo on CPT terms, belongs under Government Order 829. One cost goes under one order: paragraph 7 bars a second benefit.

Steps before you ship, when you file and after

1. Agree the term with the claim in mind. A term where the seller pays carriage, such as CPT, CIP or DAP, written with the named place and “Incoterms 2020”, puts the freight bill in your name.
2. Ask how the shipment will travel. Cargo through the air cargo complex, or courier through an International Courier Terminal.
3. Get the bill in the unit’s name. Ask for air freight and cargo handling on a bill raised on your unit and paid from its account.
4. Build the file after the flight. Shipping bill with LEO, airway bill, packing list, invoice, freight receipt and the bank realisation certificate.
5. Get the CA certificate and affidavit. The CA certifies only what the unit’s records show. The affidavit on Rs 10 stamp paper declares no grant from any other scheme against this claim.
6. File well inside the 180 days. Paragraph 4.1 counts them from the date the goods are sent by air. Use the 15 days in paragraph 4.2 to fix your own errors.
7. Answer a revert within 15 days. Refile within 15 days or the claim is treated as rejected, paragraph 4.3.

The lapse rule: paragraph 4.1 says claims filed after 180 days will not be accepted, and Government Order 829 gives no way to condone delay. Fast track: none exists. Paragraph 8 gives priority only at payment time, to units that joined national or international fairs or events organised by the state, the Bureau or UPEPC.

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Five groups this affects

• Handicraft and gift makers shipping small orders by express courier: the open courier question. Pitfall: courier rows mixed into a claim with clean cargo rows.
• Online sellers using courier and post: post office parcels have their own order, Government Order 838. Pitfall: assuming Government Order 829 covers the courier bill.
• Leather, garment and engineering units selling to large buyers on FCA: the buyer’s forwarder books the flight. Pitfall: listing freight collect shipments.
• Fruit, vegetable and flower exporters flying from Delhi or Mumbai: covered by paragraph 1. Pitfall: adding the truck to the airport into the freight figure.
• Merchant exporters buying from UP makers: covered by paragraph 9. Pitfall: a freight bill raised on the manufacturer, not the claiming unit.

Illustrative composite: the claim that waited for the courier answer

Illustrative composite, not a real client. A Kanpur leather goods unit, registered with the Bureau and UPEPC, shipped four ways in December 2025: samples on CSB-IV, small paid orders on CSB-V, a large order FCA Delhi airport with freight collect, and one order CPT London, where it paid its forwarder Rs 2,00,000 for 500 kg flown on 10 December 2025.

The team chose to file one claim for everything once the Bureau answered its courier question. No written answer came by June. The CPT shipment’s 180th day, as we count it, was 8 June 2026, and paragraph 4.1 does not accept later claims. The unit may have been able to claim Rs 60,000, the lower of 30 percent of Rs 2,00,000 and Rs 150 times 500 kg under paragraph 3, subject to approval and budget. That chance closed on day 180 of the one clean shipment.

How Rasp International helps

We file on the client’s behalf, in the client unit’s name, and give an authority letter only when a client asks. We handle freight and air freight subsidy claims for clients. For Government Order 829 we sort each airway bill and courier bill by route and by who paid, then file the rows that are ready. In Rasp International’s experience, the Export Promotion Bureau UP has been helpful and responsive.

We sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and a service level agreement (SLA) with every client. The client and our team both hold the portal logins, kept safe and confidential. We hold no customs broker licence (the customs house agent, or CHA, licence): licensed CHA partners across India handle customs clearance where a shipment needs it.

Honest limits

• We cannot tell you that a courier shipment counts under Government Order 829. The order is silent, and only the Export Promotion Bureau UP can answer.
• No sale term can be changed after the flight to create a claim. The CA certifies against the unit’s records as they stand.
• A complete claim is still subject to approval and budget. Paragraph 6 pays first come, first served by Direct Benefit Transfer within the year’s budget, and the order gives no payment date.

What Is Not Yet Notified, Checked on 25 October 2026

• Whether a courier export cleared at an International Courier Terminal counts as export through an air cargo complex. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• Whether an all in courier charge counts as air freight. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• Which courier record stands for the “customs verified bill (LEO)” line. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP and ask your courier for its customs record.
• Whether freight the unit paid and then recovered from the buyer is counted. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• Whether origin handling paid by the unit on a buyer paid flight, or destination charges under DAP, DPU or DDP, count as cargo handling. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• Whether the truck to the airport, cargo insurance or duties can be counted. Paragraph 3 of Government Order 829 names only air freight with cargo handling costs, and the Annexure 1 column “Transportation Cash Receipt Number and Date” is not explained. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• Which complex to name when goods take a domestic flight before the international one. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.
• Which format the portal expects as “Annexure 2”. Check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP.

Frequently asked questions

Does the UP air freight subsidy cover courier shipments?

Government Order 829 does not mention courier or express shipments. It covers goods exported by air through an air cargo complex in India. Courier exports are cleared at International Courier Terminals under CBIC rules. Whether those terminals count is not written anywhere, so check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP before claiming.

Can I claim the air freight subsidy if my buyer paid the freight?

Not on freight the buyer paid, including shipments billed to the buyer’s courier account. The CA certificate in Government Order 829 records the amount spent by the unit on air freight, and paragraph 8.2 of the UP Export Promotion Policy 2025-30 speaks of expenditure incurred by the exporting unit.

Does an FCA or EXW sale qualify for the UP air freight subsidy?

The goods may qualify, but the freight usually is not yours. Under the ICC Incoterms 2020 rules, the buyer arranges and pays the main carriage under EXW and FCA. Government Order 829 pays 30 percent of air freight the unit spent, so a buyer paid flight leaves your unit nothing to claim.

Can I claim air freight on a CPT or CIP sale?

Yes, if your unit paid it. Under CPT and CIP the seller contracts and pays carriage to the named destination, so the freight bill is normally in your name. Government Order 829 counts freight and cargo handling. Insurance under CIP is not named in paragraph 3, so keep the premium out of the claim.

Can a UP exporter claim if the goods fly from Mumbai or Bengaluru?

Yes. Paragraph 1 of Government Order 829 allows export through any air cargo complex in the country, provided the state of origin of the products is Uttar Pradesh. The same 30 percent or Rs 150 per kg rule, the Rs 10 lakh yearly cap and the 180 day limit apply as anywhere else.

Is the truck from my factory to the airport part of the air freight?

Government Order 829 does not name it. Paragraph 3 counts the freight on goods exported by air, including other costs related to cargo handling. As we read the order, the road leg to Delhi, Mumbai or any other airport stays out. Ask the Export Promotion Bureau UP in writing if you want it included.

What does air cargo complex mean in Government Order 829?

The order does not define it. Paragraphs 1 and 2 speak of any air cargo complex located in the country, and the CA certificate asks which complex the goods left from. Name the complex shown on your airway bill. For a courier terminal, check with the Export Promotion Bureau UP first.

Can I claim if my air shipment invoice says FOB?

Possibly, if your unit paid the air freight. The ICC treats FOB as a rule for sea and inland waterway transport only, so the label says little about an air shipment. The airway bill and the forwarder’s invoice decide. If they show your unit paid, your CA can certify it.

Are courier charges on free samples covered by Government Order 829?

Samples fit poorly. A free sample travels on a Courier Shipping Bill IV, where no foreign exchange moves, while Government Order 829 lists a bank realisation certificate. Government Order 811 has a separate head for free trade samples up to Rs 2 lakh a year. Claim any one cost under one order only.

What does the CA certificate say about who paid?

It certifies the goods, kilograms, dates, air cargo complex and destination country, and the amount the unit spent as air freight on those goods, checked against the unit’s records. The CA signs with seal, name, registration number and address. The claim form’s document list calls it Annexure 2.

Can a merchant exporter claim if the manufacturer paid the freight?

Paragraph 9 of Government Order 829 covers merchant exporter units, but the CA certifies the amount spent by the unit that claims. If the manufacturer paid the airline or forwarder, that spending is not the claimant’s. As we read the order, the claiming unit must be the payer. Ask the Bureau about other set-ups.

What happens if I claim freight my unit did not pay?

Paragraph 10 of Government Order 829 says misuse, or knowingly false or hidden facts, leads to recovery of the whole amount like revenue dues, blacklisting and loss of eligibility for any government financial help in future. The affidavit also declares that all information is true. Claim only freight your records show you paid.

Do I need a consultant to claim the UP air freight subsidy?

No. Government Order 829 lets the exporter unit file online itself. A consultant helps when shipments mix routes and sale terms, because each row needs its own papers and some need a question to the Bureau. Approval and payment stay with the Authorised Committee whoever files, subject to budget.

Your checklist for this week

• List every airway bill and courier bill from the last 180 days and mark each one cargo or courier.
• Mark who paid the freight on each: your unit, the buyer or another firm.
• Write to the Export Promotion Bureau UP about any courier rows you want to claim, and keep the reply.
• Ask your CA to certify only the freight your unit’s books show it paid, then file the clean cargo rows.

Sources

1. Tier 1. Government Order No. 829/18-4-2025 dated 6 November 2025, Air Freight Rationalisation Scheme, Department of MSME and Export Promotion, Government of Uttar Pradesh, paragraphs 1 to 12, Annexure 1 claim form with supporting documents list, Annexure 2 affidavit and the CA certificate format (Hindi): upepc.org and epb.up.gov.in.
2. Tier 1. UP Export Promotion Policy 2025-30, Government Order No. 684/18-4-2025/18-4099/31/2025 dated 3 September 2025, paragraph 8.2, English translation (the Hindi text prevails): invest.up.gov.in.
3. Tier 1. Government Order No. 811/18-4-2025 dated 6 November 2025 (free trade samples), Government Order No. 828/18-4-2025 dated 6 November 2025 (freight to gateway port) and Government Order No. 838/18-4-2025 dated 10 November 2025 (Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra postage): upepc.org.
4. Tier 1. Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Regulations, 2010, CBIC Notification No. 36/2010-Customs (N.T.) dated 5 May 2010 as amended, regulations 2 and 6(3), Forms H and HA: courier.cbic.gov.in.
5. Tier 1. CBIC Notification No. 60/2024-Customs (N.T.) dated 12 September 2024, Courier Imports and Exports (Electronic Declaration and Processing) Amendment Regulations, 2024: courier.cbic.gov.in.
6. Tier 1. CBIC Circular No. 15/2024-Customs dated 12 September 2024, export benefits for exports through courier mode: courier.cbic.gov.in.
7. Tier 2. CBIC Directorate General of Systems and Data Management, AD Code Bank Account Registration Advisory: icegate.gov.in.
8. Tier 2. UP Export Promotion Council, UP Govt. Scheme summary page, read 19 October 2026: upepc.org.
9. Tier 3, for the meaning of sale terms only. International Chamber of Commerce, Incoterms 2020: iccwbo.org; Incoterms 2020 questions and answers: library.iccwbo.org; ICC Academy notes on EXW and FCA, CPT and CIP, DAP and DDP, DPU and DAP and FCA and FOB.

This is general guidance. Rules change. Check the current notification or order, or speak to us, before you act.

Related: UP air freight subsidy guide | UP export subsidy schemes | Cross border e-commerce export setup