Realisation, repatriation and surrender of foreign exchange

 Synopsis of the new regulations is given as under:

Duty of persons to realise foreign exchange due:-

A person resident in India to whom any amount of foreign exchange is due shall take all reasonable steps to realise and repatriate such foreign exchange to India. He shall take all steps in order to avoid,

(a)    the receipt of foreign exchange getting delayed; or

(b)   the foreign exchange ceases to be receivable by him.

Manner of Repatriation :-

(a)    sell it to an authorised person in India in exchange for rupees; or

(b)   retain or hold it in account with an authorised dealer; or

(c)    use it for discharge of a debt or liability denominated in foreign exchange.

A person shall be deemed to have repatriated the foreign exchange to India when he receives the payment in rupees from the account maintained with an authorised dealer.

Period for surrender of realised foreign exchange:-

A non resident shall sell the realised foreign exchange to an authorised person, within the period specified below :-

i)      foreign exchange due as remuneration for services rendered, or in settlement of any lawful obligation, or an income on assets held outside India, or as inheritance, settlement or gift, within seven days from the date of its receipt;

ii)      in all other cases within a period of ninety days from the date of its receipt.

Period for surrender in certain cases:-

(1)   Any non resident who has acquired or purchased foreign exchange for any purpose mentioned in the declaration made by him, does not use it for such purpose or for any other purpose for which the acquisition is permissible, shall surrender such foreign exchange within a period of sixty days from the date of its acquisition.

Where the foreign exchange acquired any non resident is for the purpose of foreign travel, then, the unspent balance shall, be surrendered-

(i)     within ninety days from the date of return to India, when the unspent foreign exchange is in the form of currency notes and coins; and

(ii)  within one hundred eighty days from the date of return, when the unspent foreign exchange is in the form of travellers cheques.

Period for surrender of received/realised/unspent/unused foreign exchange by Resident individuals-

A resident Indian shall surrender the foreign exchange whether in the form of currency notes, coins and travellers cheques, etc. within a period of 180 days from the date of such acquisition or date of his return to India.

Exemption:-

Nothing in these regulations shall apply to foreign exchange in the form of currency of Nepal or Bhutan.

The new regulations shall come into force with effect from December 29, 2015.

Based on RBI Circular dt 04/02/16. Please visit www.rbi.org.in for any further clarification if required…..   Poppy