RBI Discontinues FEMA Filings to Ensure Minimal Compliance Costs

The RBI by its Circular dated November 13, 2020 has updated the Master Directions on ‘Reporting of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999’ dated January 01, 2016. The Circular discontinues 17 of the existing returns and reports prescribed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (‘FEMA’) with immediate effect. The discontinued forms which have been listed in the annexure to the Circular include:

i.       Daily inflow/outflow of foreign funds on account of investment by Foreign Portfolio Investors (‘FPIs’);

ii.     Monthly data relating to actual inflow /outflow of remittances on account of investments by Foreign Institutional Investors (‘FIIs’) in the Indian capital market;

iii.   Inflow/outflow of remittances on account of investments by Foreign Venture Capital Investor (‘FVCIs’) and market value of investments made by FVCIs;

iv.     Reporting of inflow/outflow details in respect of mutual fund by asset management companies;

v.      Form DRR for issue/transfer of sponsored/unsponsored depository receipts: Please note that it is only the hardcopy filing of form DRR that has been discontinued. The domestic custodian may continue to report the form DRR on FIRMS application in terms of Regulation 4 (5) of FEMA (Mode of Payment and Reporting of Non-Debt Instruments) Regulations, 2019; and

vi.     Monitoring of disinvestments by overseas corporate bodies.