Summary: The Reserve Bank of India, through A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 28/2026-27 dated October 23, 2026, has delegated powers to compound contraventions relating to overseas investments, borrowing and lending, and guarantees to select Regional Offices to promote customer service. These applications were previously received at the Central Office, while Regional Offices already handled certain foreign direct investment contraventions. For overseas investment transactions, applications must be submitted according to the Unique Identification Number (UIN) prefix assigned to the foreign entity, overseas joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary: AH to Ahmedabad; BG to Bengaluru; BL, BY or PJ to Mumbai; BN, CA, GA or GH to Kolkata; CG, JM, JR, KA, ND, PT or WR to New Delhi; HY to Hyderabad; and KO or MA to Chennai. Applications involving overseas investment contraventions where no UIN was allotted must be submitted to the Cell for Effective implementation of FEMA (CEFA), Central Office, Mumbai. For borrowing, lending and guarantee transactions, applications must ordinarily go to the Regional Office having jurisdiction over the Indian company’s or entity’s registered office, or the applicant’s domicile, as applicable. However, lending or guarantees towards a foreign entity in which the applicant has made ODI follow the overseas investment routing. Applications involving multiple transaction categories assigned to different offices may be submitted to CEFA. The Master Directions on Compounding of Contraventions under FEMA, 1999, dated April 22, 2025, will be updated accordingly, and authorised persons must inform their constituents.
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
RBI/FED/2026-27/298
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular. No 28/2026-27 | Dated: October 23, 2026
To,
All Authorised Dealer Category-I banks and other Authorised Persons
Madam / Sir,
Delegation of Compounding of certain Contraventions under FEMA, 1999 to Regional Offices of the Reserve Bank
Attention of Authorised Dealer (AD) Category – I banks and other Authorised Persons is invited to
i. A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 17/2024-25 dated October 1, 2024 and
ii. Master Directions on Compounding of Contraventions under FEMA, 1999, dated April 22, 2025
2. As laid down in the above directions, the applications for compounding of contraventions pertaining to transactions related to Overseas Investments and Borrowing and Lending, and Guarantees are currently being received at Central Office of the Reserve Bank. The compounding of contraventions related to certain categories of transactions related to foreign direct investment were being carried out by the Regional Offices of the Reserve Bank.
3. As a measure for promoting customer service, the powers to compound contraventions related to Overseas Investments and Borrowing and Lending, and Guarantees transactions have also been delegated to the select Regional Offices of the Reserve Bank as follows:
A. Overseas Investment transactions
Compounding applications related to contraventions of provisions under
(i) Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2000 dated May 03, 2000, notified vide Notification No FEMA 19/RB-2000, as amended from time to time, or
(ii) Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2004 dated July 07, 2004, notified vide Notification No FEMA 120/RB-2004, as amended from time to time, or
(iii) Foreign Exchange Management (Overseas Investments) Rules, 2022 dated August 22, 2022, or
(v) Any other provisions of the Act, rules and regulations issued thereunder, as far as the contraventions are related to underlying overseas investments transactions.
shall be submitted to the following Regional Offices depending on the Unique Identification Number (UIN) assigned to the foreign entity, overseas Joint venture or overseas Wholly Owned subsidiary, as the case maybe, as mentioned below:
| Sr. No | Regional Office | Prefix of the UIN |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahmedabad | AH |
| 2 | Bengaluru | BG |
| 3 | Mumbai | BL or BY or PJ |
| 4 | Kolkata | BN or CA or GA or GH |
| 5 | New Delhi | CG or JM or JR or KA or ND or PT or WR |
| 6 | Hyderabad | HY |
| 7 | Chennai | KO or MA |
vi. The compounding applications in respect of contraventions where no UIN was allotted, shall be submitted at Cell for Effective implementation of FEMA (CEFA), Foreign Exchange Department, Central Office, Reserve Bank of India, 11th floor, Central Office Building, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Fort, Mumbai – 400001.
B. Borrowing and Lending, and Guaranatee transactions
Compounding applications related to contraventions of provisions under
(i) Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing or Lending in Foreign Exchange) Regulations, 2000, dated May 03, 2000, and notified vide Notification No. FEMA 3/2000-RB, as amended from time to time, or
(ii) Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending in Rupees) Regulations, 2000, dated May 03, 2000, and notified vide Notification No. FEMA.4/2000-RB, as amended from time to time, or
(iii) Foreign Exchange Management (Borrowing and Lending) Regulations, 2018 dated December 17, 2018, and notified vide Notification No FEMA 3(R)/RB-2018, as amended from time to time, or
(iv) Foreign Exchange Management (Guarantees) Regulations, 2000, dated May 03, 2000, and notified vide Notification No FEMA 8/RB-2000, as amended from time to time, or
(v) Foreign Exchange Management (Guarantees) Regulations, 2026 dated January 06, 2026, and notified vide Notification No FEMA 8(R)/RB-2026, as amended from time to time.
(vi) shall be submitted by the applicants to the Regional Offices having jurisdiction over the registered office of the Indian company/ entity concerned, or place of domicile, as the case maybe. The details of the Regional Offices and their respective jurisdictions are brought out in Part C of Annexure I to the Master Directions on Compounding of Contraventions under FEMA, 1999, dated April 22, 2025.
Note: In case the contraventions pertain to Lending or Guarantees transactions undertaken by the applicant, towards the foreign entity in which the applicant has made ODI, the compounding applications shall be submitted as per ‘A’ above.
C. Compounding applications involving contraventions of multiple categories of transactions governed by different sets of rules and/or regulations (for which powers to compound have been delegated to different offices) may be submitted at Cell for Effective implementation of FEMA (CEFA), Foreign Exchange Department, Central Office, Reserve Bank of India, 11th floor, Central Office Building, Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Fort, Mumbai – 400001
3. The aforesaid Master Directions shall accordingly be updated to reflect the above changes.
4. All AD Category-I banks and other Authorised Persons may bring the guidelines contained in this circular to the notice of their constituents.
5. The Directions contained in this circular have been issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and/or without prejudice to permissions/approval, if any, required under any other law.
Yours faithfully,
(Dr. Aditya Gaiha)
Chief General Manager in Charge
