RBI has, by way of notification dated April 1, 2016, issued the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016, which supersede the erstwhile regulations of 2000, with the following key changes:

i. A person resident outside India having a business interest in India is permitted to open a Special Non Resident Rupee Account (‘SNRR Account’) with an AD Bank for bona fide transactions in Rupees subject to certain conditions;

ii. A shipping or airline company incorporated outside India is permitted to hold and maintain a foreign currency account with an AD Bank for meeting expenses in India. However, freight or passage fare collections in India or inward remittances through banking channels from its office outside India are the only permissible credits; and

iii. An AD Bank is permitted to allow unincorporated joint ventures between foreign and Indian entities executing a contract in India, to open and maintain a non-interest bearing foreign currency account and a SNRR Account for the purpose of undertaking transactions in the ordinary course of its business, subject to certain conditions.