Appointment of Agents / Franchisees by Authorised Dealer Category-I banks, Authorised Dealer Category-II and Full Fledged Money Changers– Revised guidelines.

Franchisee surrender requirement: foreign currency must be handed only to franchiser; stricter due diligence and distance limits.

Mandates that foreign currency purchased by franchisees be surrendered only to the franchiser within seven working days; requires franchisers to conduct annual due diligence including business activity checks, physical verification, identity and PAN documentation, declarations on criminal proceedings, photographs of key persons and a Chartered Accountant's certificate confirming ongoing maintenance of the Net Owned Funds requirement. Imposes a distance based selection criterion for franchisee appointment with exemptions for recognised hotel chains and designated hilly/North Eastern areas, requires immediate application to new franchisees, phased compliance for existing franchisees and reporting to the Reserve Bank regional office.