Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2025
Notification No. FEMA 10(R)(7)/2025-RB, dated October 06, 2025
Issued by the Reserve Bank of India, Foreign Exchange Department, Central Office, Mumbai
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 9 and clause (e) of sub-section (2) of Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA 42 of 1999), has issued this Seventh Amendment to the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) Regulations, 2015. The amendments aim to align the framework with the evolving international trade environment and the establishment of International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in India.
1. Short Title and Commencement
The new regulations are titled the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) (Seventh Amendment) Regulations, 2025. They come into effect immediately upon publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Insertion of Definition for IFSC
A new clause (iii-a) is added to Regulation 2 defining International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). The term will carry the same meaning as under Section 3(g) of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 (50 of 2019). This insertion integrates IFSCs into the broader framework of FEMA-regulated foreign currency account operations.
3. Substitution of Regulation 5(CA)
The previous sub-regulation 5(CA) has been replaced. Under the new rule, an exporter who is a person resident in India may open, hold, and maintain a Foreign Currency Account with a bank outside India for the purpose of realizing export proceeds and receiving advance remittances for exports of goods or services.
The funds in such accounts can be:
- Utilized for paying for the exporter’s imports into India, or
- Repatriated to India within:
- Three months when maintained with banks in an IFSC, or
- By the end of the next month for all other jurisdictions.
- Three months when maintained with banks in an IFSC, or
This must be done after adjusting for forward commitments and in compliance with the Foreign Exchange Management (Export of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2015, as amended.
4. Clarification on Account Location
An explanatory note has been inserted to clarify that accounts permitted to be opened “outside India or abroad” may also be opened within an International Financial Services Centre.
Footnote
The Principal Regulations were first issued via G.S.R. 96(E) on January 21, 2016, and have since been amended multiple times — the latest being FEMA 10R(6)/2025-RB dated April 29, 2025 — culminating in this Seventh Amendment.
