FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999) has acted as a catalyst for the growth and development of various sectors in India. The main aim of FEMA is to facilitate external trade, balance the payments, promote the orderly development, and maintain the foreign exchange market in India.
This article covers the Important Compliances to be followed under provisions of FEMA / RBI.
| Sl. No. | Compli-ance(s) Particular | Details of Compliance(s) | Who / Why is required to Comply | Due Date(s) | Key Points |
| 1 | Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA Return) |
FLA Return is required to be submitted mandatorily by all the India resident companies which have received FDI and/ or made ODI in any of the previous year(s), including current year | Who holds foreign assets or liabilities in their financial statements as on 31 March. | on or before 15 July every year. | If the Indian company does not have any outstanding investment in respect of FDI and/or ODI as on end of the reporting year, the Company need not submit the FLA Return. Similarly, if the Indian company has not ‘received any fresh FDI and/or ODI in the latest year but the company has outstanding FDI and/or ODI, then that company is still required to submit the FLA Return every year by 15 July. |
| 2 | Annual Performance Report (APR) | An Indian Party (IP) / Resident Individual (RI) which has made an Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) has to submit an Annual Performance Report (APR) in Form ODI Part II to the AD bank in respect of each Joint Venture (JV) / Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) outside India. | An Indian Party (IP) / Resident Individual (RI) which has made an Overseas Direct Investment (ODI) | on or before 31st December, every year. | APR is required to be certified by the statutory auditor of the Indian party. Certification of APRs by the Statutory Auditor or Chartered Accountant shall not be insisted upon in the case of Resident Individuals and self-certification can be accepted in such case. |
| 3 | External Commercial Borrowings | Borrowers are required to report all ECB transactions to the RBI on a monthly basis through an AD Category – I Bank in the form of ‘ECB 2 Return’. | borrowers are required to report all ECB transaction | monthly basis | The revised ECB 2 Return simplifies disclosure of hedging details into two baskets – financial and natural and requires disclosure of only the following: 1. Outstanding principal ECB amount and the currency thereof; 2. Notional value and percentage of outstanding ECB amount of financial hedge(s) as well as natural hedge; and 3. Annualised percentage cost of financial hedge(s) for ECB. |
| 4 | Single Master Form {w.e.f. 30.06.2018} | Integrates the reporting requirements for FDI in india, irrespective of the instrument through which foreign investment is made. | Subsumes of FC-GRP, FC-TRS, LLP-I, LLP-II, CN, ESOP, DI, DRR forms into one single master form | 1. FDI reporting in Form FC-GPR under SMF has to be done within 30 days after the allotment.
2. Reporting under FC-TRS under SMF has to be done within 60 days of transfer of capital instruments or receipt / remittance of funds whichever is earlier. 3. Form LLP-I & LLP-II is filed for reporting FDI & transfer of capital contribution or profit share in LLPs, respectively. 4. Reporting in respect of issue or transfer of Convertible Notes (CN) is done in Form CN within 60 days of such transfer. |
FC-TRS: Filing by Individual: Reporting in FC-TRS can be done by the transferor / transferee company resident in India. In case of transfer between individuals, reporting can be done by resident individual after registering as business user and in this case the authority letter must be in the name of the person who is reporting. |
| 5 | Advance Reporting Form (ARF) | report the details of the amount of consideration to the Regional Office concerned of the Reserve Bank through its AD Category I bank, | An Indian company receiving investment from outside India for issue of shares or other eligible securities under the FDI Scheme. | Not later than 30 days from the date of receipt in the Advance Reporting Form (ARF) | |
| 6 | Form FC-GPR | Issue of bonus or rights shares to persons resident outside India directly or on amalgamation/ merger with an existing Indian company, as well as issue of shares on conversion of ECB/ royalty/ lumpsum technical know-how fee/ import of capital goods by units in SEZs has to be reported in Form FC-GPR. | After issue of shares or other eligible securities, the Indian company has to file | not later than 30 days from the date of issue of shares | |
| 7 | Form FC-TRS | Reporting of transfer of shares and other eligible securities between residents and non-residents and vice- versa is to be made in Form FC-TRS. | The Form FC-TRS should be submitted to the AD Category – I bank | With in 60 days from the date of receipt of the amount of consideration. | The onus of submission of the Form FC-TRS within the given timeframe would be on the transferor/ transferee, resident in India. |
| 8 | Form ODI | Overseas investments (or financial commitment) in Joint Ventures (JV) and Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS) |
An Indian Party and a Resident Individual making an overseas investment is required to submit form ODI |
receive share certificates or any other documentary evidence of investment in the foreign JV / WOS as an evidence of investment and submit the same to the designated AD within 6 months; |
In case of disinvestment, sale proceeds of shares/securities shall be repatriated to India immediately on receipt thereof and in any case not later than 90 days from the date of sale of the shares /securities and documentary evidence to this effect shall be submitted to the Reserve Bank through the designated Authorised Dealer. |
| For Information only : Physical filing of FC-GPR, ARF and FCTRS forms is discontinued from February 8, 2016 and online filing through government’s e-Biz portal has been made mandatory. | |||||
Author Bio
When shareholder of an Indian private company becomes NRI, is it possible to repatriate dividends?
Any restrictions?
Hi,
I wish to know the refrences of provisions (Acts/Regulations) from where this checklist has been prepared.
Thanks in advance!
Dear Sir,
what are all the compliance to be made if any resident individual start up new business in overseas .investment made through his personal account.
what is the difference between ARF and FC-GPR?
Can Foreign Company generate non-operating income by investing in Fixed Deposit?
Sir, if anyone has made payment as expenses or payment for tax outside india for receiving FDI, but didnot received FDI, then there such person shall be liable to file Annual Return or not.
Thanks for the comprehensive information on FEMA Compliance