ACU payment eligibility limited to export and import transactions; other payments excluded except by mutual agreement.
ACU settlement is limited to payments for export/import transactions between ACU member countries, including deferred payment terms; transactions not on account of such export/import trade are ineligible for ACU settlement except to the extent mutually agreed between the Reserve Bank and other participants, and trade with Myanmar may be settled in any freely convertible currency.

Closing of old export bills permitted as a one time regulatory measure, subject to eligibility, non suit, and reporting requirements.
Authorized Dealer Category I banks may close certain long outstanding export bills as a one time measure if the case has no pending civil or criminal suit, the exporter is not under adverse notice by enforcement agencies, there are no externalisation issues, and the bill meets prescribed vintage and ceiling criteria; untraceable customers require proof of non traceability and adherence to the bank's board approved policy. Closed cases must be reported to the Reserve Bank's Regional Offices in the annexed Excel format and will be excluded from future Export Outstanding Statements.

Overseas borrowing flexibility for authorised banks expanded, with conditional access for general banking and swap eligibility.
Authorised Dealer Category I banks may borrow overseas from head offices, overseas branches, correspondents or other entities permitted by the Reserve Bank up to one hundred per cent of unimpaired Tier I capital or the specified floor amount, subject to conditions directed by the Reserve Bank. Temporary permission is granted to borrow from international and multilateral financial institutions until November 30, 2013 for general banking business (not capital augmentation); such borrowings must meet conditions in specified A.P. (DIR Series) circulars and are eligible for the concessional swap facility.

Export Outstanding Statement online submission: bank wide reporting with nodal branch designation and FEMA based compliance.
XOS reporting will move from branch wise to an online, bank wide submission; AD Category I banks must designate a Nodal Branch to upload consolidated XOS data in CSV format to the RBI server using allotted User IDs and passwords. Banks should implement required infrastructure, test uploads by sending sample test data for RBI feedback, and follow the Bank User Manual. The directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Refinancing at higher all-in-cost for external commercial borrowings is discontinued; lower-cost refinancing options remain available.
Eligible borrowers are no longer permitted to raise fresh ECB at a higher all-in-cost to refinance or reschedule existing ECBs with effect from October 1, 2013; the option to refinance by raising fresh ECB at a lower all-in-cost, provided the outstanding maturity of the original ECB is maintained or extended, continues under the automatic and approval routes, and all other ECB policy provisions remain unchanged.

All-in-cost ceiling for External Commercial Borrowings maintained, ECB policy otherwise unchanged; banks to notify customers.
Continuation of the all-in-cost ceiling for External Commercial Borrowings is directed, keeping the previously specified ceiling applicable until review, with all other aspects of the ECB policy unchanged; Authorized Dealer Category-I banks must notify constituents and customers. The directions are issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and are subject to any other statutory permissions or approvals.

External Commercial Borrowings allowed for acquisition in multiple rounds of government PSU disinvestment, subject to existing approvals.
ECB proceeds may be used for acquisition of PSU shares in all subsequent stages of the Government disinvestment programme; ECB facility is available for multiple rounds of disinvestment. Authorised Dealer Category I banks should inform their constituents; the directions are issued under Sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and do not affect other statutory permissions.

All-in-cost ceiling for trade credits maintained, remaining applicable until scheduled review; other trade-credit rules unchanged.
The circular directs that the all-in-cost ceiling applicable to trade credits for imports shall continue until March 31, 2014 and be subject to review; all other Trade Credit policy provisions remain unchanged, AD Category I banks must inform constituents, and the directions are issued under sections 10(4) and 11(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Special Currency Basket revision fixes rupee value and directs authorised dealer banks to notify constituents under FEMA authority.
The Reserve Bank revised the Rupee valuation of the Special Currency Basket used for Deferred Payment Protocols and fixed a new rupee value effective in September 2013; Authorised Dealer Category I banks are directed to notify their constituents of the revision. The circular is issued under FEMA authority and is without prejudice to other legal permissions or approvals.

Foreign currency borrowing maturity eased to permit one year tenure for specified swap-eligible borrowings, reverting to longer term subsequently.
AD Category I banks may borrow overseas foreign currency beyond their unimpaired Tier I capital subject to minimum maturity rules: borrowings made on or before November 30, 2013 to avail the Reserve Bank's swap facility may have a minimum maturity of one year; borrowings beyond that date must have a minimum maturity of three years. The directions are issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and do not affect other required statutory permissions or approvals.

Trade credit rules expanded for capital goods imports, longer tenor allowed with shorter contract start period.
Companies in all sectors may now avail trade credit up to USD 20 million for import of DGFT classified capital goods for up to five years; the ab initio contract period is reduced to six months. AD Category I banks remain subject to existing terms and conditions but are not permitted to issue LC/guarantees/LoU/LoC for any extended period beyond three years. Other Trade Credit policy aspects remain unchanged and the amendment is effective immediately under regulatory directions.

Line of Credit terms require majority India sourced supplies and prescribe compliance, documentation and FEMA based regulation.
Exim Bank's LOC for financing a low cost housing project in Burkina Faso mandates that at least 75 percent of contract price be supplied from India and up to 25 percent may be procured abroad. The Credit Agreement effective from September 13, 2013 prescribes 48 month disbursement timing for project exports and 72 months from execution for supply contracts. Shipments must be declared on GR/SDF forms. No agency commission is payable under the LOC, though exporters may pay commission from their own resources or EEFC balances subject to AD Category I bank compliance. Directions issued under FEMA sections 10(4) and 11(1).

Online reporting of foreign contributions becomes mandatory for banks; register credentials and submit prescribed data formats.
Banks must report receipts of foreign contribution to the Central Government using the Ministry's online software, which is optional until the transition cutoff and compulsory thereafter; banks must create user IDs and passwords and submit reports in prescribed formats (Excel, CSV, or txt) following the Ministry's user guide.

Project export form submission dispensed to streamline compliance while preserving reporting to financing and insurance participants.
Submission of forms DPX-1, PEX-1, TCS-1 and DPX-3 to the Reserve Bank by the Approving Authority may be dispensed with, while submission to financing or insurance participants with participatory interests must continue; all other PEM instructions remain unchanged and the change does not affect approvals required under other laws.

Form ORA reporting: Authorized dealers no longer must forward regional submissions, must retain approval records locally.
Mandatory forwarding of Form ORA to regional offices is discontinued; Authorized Dealers must retain particulars of approvals for opening Trading Offices, Non Trading Offices, Branches or Representative Offices abroad at their end. The change is issued under FEMA and does not affect other approvals or statutory compliance required under other laws.

Special Currency Basket value revised under FEMA directives; authorised dealer banks must implement change and notify constituents.
The Reserve Bank of India notified a revised Rupee value for the Special Currency Basket to be used in transactions under the Deferred Payment Protocols between India and the erstwhile USSR, directed Authorised Dealer Category I banks to apply the revised value and to inform their constituents, and stated the directions are issued under FEMA and without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

External Commercial Borrowings definition expanded to include broader infrastructure sub-sectors, enabling ECB access across specified sectors.
ECB policy expands the definition of infrastructure sector for ECB eligibility to include specified sub-sectors: Energy (electricity generation, transmission, distribution; oil/gas pipelines; oil/gas/LNG storage), Communication (mobile telephony, fixed network telecommunication, telecommunication towers), Transport (railways and supporting terminals, roads and bridges, ports, inland waterways, airports, urban public transport excluding rolling stock), Water and Sanitation (water supply pipelines, solid waste management, water treatment, sewage systems, irrigation, storm water drainage), Mining/Exploration/Refining, and Social and Commercial Infrastructure including hospitals, large hotels/convention centres, common industrial infrastructure, fertilizer investment, post-harvest storage and cold chain.

Special Currency Basket value revised, affecting settlement under Deferred Payment Protocols and advising AD Category I banks to adjust operations.
The circular notifies Authorised Dealer Category I banks of a revision in the Rupee value used to value the Special Currency Basket under the Deferred Payment Protocols and directs banks to note and implement the revised valuation for settlements governed by those Protocols, issued under FEMA without prejudice to other statutory permissions.

Overseas forex trading restrictions: unauthorized remittances via online portals trigger FEMA breaches and banks must block accounts.
Residents remitting funds from India to overseas electronic/internet trading portals for forex trading, including via credit cards or other electronic channels, may contravene the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and KYC/AML norms. AD Category I banks must warn customers, close cards/accounts on detecting prohibited transactions and report such defaults to the Reserve Bank of India in the prescribed format; failure to implement these measures may attract action under section 11(3) of FEMA, 1999.

Currency possession limit for non-residents permits limited INR beyond immigration to duty free area, requiring disposal before boarding.
Non-residents may carry Indian currency beyond the Immigration/Customs desk into the Duty Free Area/Security Hold Area for miscellaneous expenditures but must dispose of such currency before boarding and may not possess Indian Rupees beyond the SHA. Foreign Exchange Counters may be established in the Duty Free Area/SHA to buy Indian Rupees from non-residents and sell foreign currency to them, subject to usual terms; Airport Authorities must display notices advising this last point for possession.