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 the provisions of
FEMA / RBI.
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Sl. No.
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Compliance(s) Particular
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Details of Compliance(s)
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Who / Why is required to Comply
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Due Date(s)
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Key Points
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1
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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
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Who holds foreign assets or liabilities in their
financial statements as on 31 March.
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on or before 15 July every year.
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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. |
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2
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Annual Performance Report (APR)
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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.
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An Indian Party (IP) / Resident Individual (RI)
which has made an Overseas Direct Investment (ODI)
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on or before 31st December, every year.
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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.
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3
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External Commercial Borrowings
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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’.
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borrowers are required to report all ECB
transaction
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monthly basis
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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. |
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4
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Single Master Form {w.e.f. 30.06.2018}
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Integrates the reporting requirements for FDI in
india, irrespective of the instrument through which foreign investment is
made.
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Subsumes of FC-GRP, FC-TRS, LLP-I, LLP-II, CN,
ESOP, DI, DRR forms into one
single master form
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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. |
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5
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Advance Reporting Form (ARF)
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report the details of the amount of consideration
to the Regional Office concerned of the Reserve Bank through its AD Category
I bank,
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An Indian company receiving investment from outside
India for issue of shares or other eligible securities under the FDI Scheme.
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Not later than 30 days from the date of receipt
in the Advance Reporting Form (ARF)
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6
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Form FC-GPR
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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.
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After
issue of shares or other eligible securities, the Indian company has to file
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not later than 30 days from the date of issue of
shares
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7
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Form FC-TRS
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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.
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The Form FC-TRS should be submitted to the AD
Category – I bank
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With in 60 days from the date of receipt of the
amount of consideration.
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The onus of submission of the Form FC-TRS within
the given timeframe would be on the transferor/ transferee, resident in
India.
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8
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Form ODI
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Overseas investments (or financial commitment) in
Joint Ventures (JV) and Wholly Owned Subsidiaries (WOS)
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An Indian Party and a Resident Individual making
an overseas investment is required to submit form ODI
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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;
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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.
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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. |
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