Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Nov 3: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased foreign exchange reporting requirements for small exporters and importers of services, exempting certain transactions from mandatory declarations and reporting.
Under the amended Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, individual service exporters will be deemed to have submitted the Export Declaration Form (EDF) once they provide the required payment-related information to their authorised dealer bank for crediting the proceeds to their accounts.
For exporters other than resident individuals, the same provision will apply where the inward remittance for the service does not exceed Rs 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency.
The RBI notified the changes on Tuesday through the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026. The revised norms have come into effect retrospectively from October 1.
The central bank has also eased reporting requirements for imports of services under the Import Data Processing and Monitoring System (IDPMS), subject to certain conditions.
Under the revised rules, authorised dealer banks will be required to enter service import details in IDPMS within five working days of receiving the information only in cases involving importers other than resident individuals and where the invoice or contract value exceeds Rs 10 lakh.
The amended provision specifies that banks must enter details of service imports "where the invoice or the contract value is more than Rs 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency".
This effectively removes the IDPMS reporting requirement for resident individuals and for other importers undertaking service imports valued at up to Rs 10 lakh.
The latest changes amend the principal FEMA regulations notified on January 13, which were subsequently revised in September.
The notification also defines a resident individual as "a person resident in India who is a natural person", distinguishing such individuals from companies and other business entities.