RTD Meaning in Flipkart: What the Ready to Dispatch Status Means for Sellers

RTD on Flipkart means Ready to Dispatch. It is the status a shipment takes once the seller has packed it and marked it ready, which tells Flipkart's logistics partner that the parcel can be picked up. Flipkart's own Seller API documentation describes the call as one that "marks order items inside shipment as 'Ready to Dispatch'" and "communicates to the logistics partners that the shipment is ready for pick up". If you searched "Return to Destination", that is not a Flipkart term. The return-side status is RTO, covered below. Checked November 2026.

What does RTD mean in a Flipkart order?

RTD is a step in the forward journey of an order, before the parcel leaves your hands. The usual order of events for a seller shipping on their own packing is: the order is placed, you confirm and pack it, you mark it ready, the logistics partner collects it from your pickup location, and the shipment moves to the customer.

Flipkart's API documentation for the dispatch call says it "requires shipmentIds and locationId", where the location is the seller location the items are dispatched from. For each shipment it returns a processing status of SUCCESS or FAILURE.

Where RTD sits in Flipkart's shipment lifecycle

Flipkart's Order Management API overview lists the shipment statuses for standard fulfilment in order. This is the developer documentation, so Seller Hub screen labels can be worded differently, but the sequence is the same idea.

Two things follow from this. First, RTD comes after PACKED, so you generate and download the label and invoice before you mark a shipment ready. Second, RTD is something you do, not something Flipkart does to you: the status changes when you mark the shipment, and the logistics partner's pickup request follows.

Note that the same documentation page does not list RTO in the standard shipment lifecycle. It mentions RTO in its self-ship returns section, where the seller must confirm RTO after ensuring the product was not delivered to the customer. That page's return definitions are not fully consistent, so confirm return handling with Flipkart support.

RTD vs RTO: why sellers confuse them

They look alike and sit at opposite ends of the journey.

A shipment gets an RTO status when the parcel cannot be delivered to the customer and is sent back to the seller's pickup address. That Shiprocket explainer is about couriers in general, not Flipkart's own policy, so treat the cost rules in it as a general pattern and check your Flipkart rate card for the exact RTO charges that apply to you.

For a full walk-through of how to cut failed deliveries, read the RTO reduction guide. The rupee cost of an RTO can be worked out with the RTO cost calculator.

What should I do when an order is in RTD?

1. Check the pack and label. Confirm the shipping label, invoice and packing slip are attached to the right parcel before the pickup person arrives.
2. Hand over within your dispatch time. Flipkart sets a dispatch SLA by seller type and category, shown in Seller Hub. Missing it can count against your seller metrics. See Flipkart account health for how those metrics are tracked.
3. Keep the parcel ready at the pickup location you registered. The API call needs the location ID, so a wrong or inactive pickup address is a common reason a pickup does not happen.
4. Watch the next status. After pickup the shipment moves on to in-transit and out-for-delivery. If it stays in RTD past the pickup window, raise it.

Why is my order stuck in RTD?

Typical causes, in rough order of how often they are reported by sellers:

• The pickup location is wrong, closed or not serviceable by the partner on that day.
• The shipment was marked ready before it was actually packed, so the pickup person arrived early and left.
• The label did not print or does not match the shipment ID.
• A temporary failure in the dispatch call. Flipkart's API lists DEPENDENT_SYSTEM_CALL_FAILED as the error when an internal system fails during the call.

I could not find a Flipkart page that gives a fixed number of hours after which an RTD order is auto-escalated. Do not rely on a figure from a blog. If you are past your dispatch time, raise a ticket with the shipment ID and the pickup location.

How does RTD work if I use Flipkart-fulfilled (FBF) stock?

With Flipkart Fulfilment (FBF), Flipkart's warehouse packs and ships, so you do not mark orders ready yourself. RTD matters mostly to sellers who ship from their own location (self-ship or Flipkart-arranged pickup). The FBF model is covered in the Flipkart FBF guide.

How do I mark a shipment RTD in Seller Hub?

The exact screens change, so use this as the order of work, not a screenshot guide.

1. Open your new orders and confirm each one. Check any dispatch-after date or hold flag before you pack.
2. Request the label and invoice. The status moves to packing in progress and then packed.
3. Download and print the label and invoice, and attach them to the parcel.
4. Mark the shipment ready to dispatch for the right pickup location.
5. Keep the parcel at that location until the logistics partner scans it.

If you use a seller tool or an integration, it calls the same dispatch endpoint. The dispatch call takes the shipment IDs and the location ID, and sets the shipments to READY_TO_DISPATCH. Pack first, because RTD follows PACKED in the lifecycle above.

Where do fees come into it?

RTD itself carries no separate fee that I could find. Fees such as commission, fixed fee, shipping and collection are charged on the order, not on the status. For the rate card, see Flipkart seller fees explained. Fee rates change; confirm yours in Seller Hub under Fees and Commission.

FAQ

Does RTD mean Return to Destination on Flipkart? No. Flipkart's Seller API describes RTD as "Ready to Dispatch". The return-side status is RTO, which stands for Return to Origin. I found no Flipkart source that uses "Return to Destination" as a status.

Is RTD the same as shipped? No. RTD means you have marked the shipment ready and the logistics partner can collect it. The order counts as picked up and moving only after the partner scans it from your location.

Can I undo an RTD mark? I could not confirm this from a public Flipkart page. If you marked the wrong shipment, raise a ticket in Seller Hub before the pickup happens, quoting the shipment ID.

Does RTD affect my seller rating? The status alone does not. Dispatching late, or marking ready and then not handing over, can hurt your fulfilment metrics. Flipkart shows those metrics in Seller Hub.

Who sees the RTD status, me or the customer? It is a seller and logistics status. Customers see their own tracking page, which uses its own labels such as packed or shipped. Exact customer-facing wording is set by Flipkart and can change.

What is the difference between RTD and RTO in a sentence? RTD is the parcel ready to leave you. RTO is the parcel coming back to you because it could not be delivered.

What is the right first step if RTD does not clear? Check pickup location, label and SLA, then raise a ticket in Seller Hub with the shipment ID and screenshots.

Next step

If order-flow errors, dispatch misses or RTOs keep eating your margin, Blooprint's Flipkart account management team can review your account and dispatch process with you.