Prohibition on post office advocacy bars former Chairperson and Members from appearing, acting or pleading before the Appellate Tribunal.
The amendment substitutes the pay provision, fixing an Apex scale for the Chairperson and a Higher Administrative Grade for Members, allows sitting High Court Judges appointed as Chairperson to receive High Court Judge salary, requires deduction of pension or retirement contributions from the salary of retired appointees, grants additional allowances aligned with Secretary and Additional Secretary levels, and inserts a post service bar preventing former Chairperson or Members from appearing, acting or pleading before the Appellate Tribunal.

Currency export restrictions: Denomination limits on Indian notes to Nepal and Bhutan, with a capped exception for travellers.
Regulatory amendment replaces Regulation 8(1) to prohibit taking or sending Government of India and Reserve Bank of India currency notes above a specified small-denomination threshold to Nepal and Bhutan, while permitting individual travellers to carry specified higher-denomination Reserve Bank notes subject to a capped aggregate limit; the amendment is made under Section 6(3)(g) and Section 47(2) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 and commences on publication in the Official Gazette.

Issue of depository receipts: framework for eligible securities, custodian role, pricing parity and mandatory reporting requirements.
The amendment creates a framework for issuance/transfer of Depository Receipts under the Depository Receipts Scheme, 2014: defines Domestic Custodian and Depository Receipt, permits eligible persons to issue/transfer eligible securities to a foreign depository, allows domestic custodians to purchase securities for conversion, requires aggregate foreign holdings to remain within extant FEMA limits, mandates pricing parity with corresponding domestic issues, and requires domestic custodians to report issuances to the Reserve Bank in prescribed formats.

Full foreign direct investment on automatic route in construction development allowed subject to project-size, minimum capital infusion and infrastructure conditions.
Full foreign direct investment under the automatic route is permitted in the construction development sector, covering townships, residential/commercial premises and city/regional infrastructure, subject to conditions including minimum floor area for construction projects, an initial mandatory capital infusion within a fixed period from project commencement, staged investment tranches within a defined timeframe, exit and repatriation rules tied to provision of trunk infrastructure, and strict compliance with applicable building, land-use and approval requirements.

Foreign currency accounts: resident employees may receive whole salary abroad if Indian income tax is paid on salary accrued in India.
The amendment allows specified resident employees-foreign nationals resident in India employed by foreign companies, and Indian nationals employed abroad and deputed to the foreign company's Indian office-to open and maintain foreign currency accounts abroad and receive their entire salary there, on condition that income tax under the Income tax Act, 1961 is paid on the whole salary as accrued in India; it also declares that the term "company" includes a Limited Liability Partnership for this sub regulation.

Deposits by multilateral organisations clarified under amended FEMA deposit rules to cover subsidiaries, affiliates and officials in India.
The amendment substitutes Regulation 4(5) to provide that deposits held in accounts maintained with an authorised dealer by any multilateral organisation and its subsidiary/affiliate bodies and officials in India of such multilateral organisations, of which India is a member nation, are governed by the Deposit Regulations.

Alternative Investment Fund regulation clarified; purchases of foreign securities by funds now expressly subject to exchange regulations and additional conditions.
The amendments add a definition of Alternative Investment Fund aligned with securities regulator rules, and replace the prior provision to state that purchases of foreign securities by Mutual Funds, Venture Capital Funds and Alternative Investment Funds are subject to the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations and any additional terms and conditions that may be specified by the Reserve Bank and the securities regulator.

Overseas direct investment: proprietorships and unregistered partnerships may form or acquire foreign JV/WOS with prior RBI approval.
A proprietorship concern or an unregistered partnership firm in India that satisfies the Reserve Bank's prescribed criteria for Overseas Direct Investment may set up or acquire a joint venture or wholly owned subsidiary outside India only with the Reserve Bank's prior approval; Regulation 19A is substituted to reflect this rule and the existing Schedule II is deleted.

Tax compliance requirement for outward remittance: remittances permitted only after payment of applicable Indian taxes.
The amendment conditions specified outward remittances on payment of applicable taxes in India, if any, by inserting that requirement across Regulation 4 provisions governing general remittances and NRI/PIO remittances, deletes certain sub clauses and conjunctive words to streamline text, adds tax payment as an express item in Regulation 4(4), and revises Regulation 7 so authorised dealers may permit remittances only subject to Reserve Bank directions and payment of applicable Indian taxes, if any.

FEMA amendment: deletion of the explanation to Regulation 2 clause viii b alters the transfer and issue of securities framework.
Reserve Bank of India issues the Fifteenth Amendment to the FEMA Regulations (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India), giving the amendment a short title and making it effective on publication in the Official Gazette. The amendment's operative change is the deletion of the existing explanation to clause viii b of Regulation 2 of the principal Regulations, thereby removing that specific explanatory provision from the regulatory text governing transfers or issues of securities by persons resident outside India.

Foreign source exclusion: IUCN designated not to be a foreign source under the FCRA, narrowing statutory scope.
The Government specified under sub clause (ii) of clause (j) of section 2(1) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 that the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) shall not be treated as a foreign source for the purposes of the Act by notification S.O. 2648(E) dated 16 October 2014, thereby excluding that organisation from the statutory definition of foreign source.

Charge on foreign and domestic assets permitted as security, subject to reserve bank investment limits and lender regulation.
Indian parties may create pledge or other charges on shares of overseas JV, WOS or SDS and on domestic or foreign assets (including group or related parties' assets) as security for fund based or non fund based facilities for themselves or their overseas affiliates. Such facilities are to be reckoned as the Indian party's financial commitment and must remain within the Reserve Bank's overseas investment limits; overseas lenders must be bank regulated; existing chargees must provide 'No Objection' where applicable; and transactions are subject to additional Reserve Bank conditions and applicable prudential norms.

Adjudicating authorities under FEMA given tiered monetary jurisdiction to conduct section 13 adjudications under official notification.
The Central Government appoints specified officers of the Directorate of Enforcement as adjudicating authorities to hold inquiries and adjudicate under Section 13 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, allocating competence to Director, Special Director, Additional Director, Joint Director, Deputy Director and Assistant Director according to tiered monetary limits, and superseding earlier appointments except as to prior actions.

Acquisition of immovable property now expressly made subject to applicable Indian tax laws under amended regulations.
Addition of a new regulation states that any transaction involving acquisition of immovable property under these regulations shall be subject to the applicable tax laws in India, with the amendment titled as the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and Transfer of Immovable Property in India) (Amendment) Regulations, 2014, and commencing on publication in the Official Gazette.

Foreign investment in railway infrastructure permitted automatically, subject to sectoral guidelines and security review for sensitive cases.
Regulations amend Schedule 1: Annexure A now lists specified sectors prohibited for FDI, and Annexure B redefines "Infrastructure" and "Common Facilities" for industrial parks. Multiple schedule entries are renumbered and a new entry permits foreign investment on an automatic route in a range of railway infrastructure activities, subject to ministry guidelines and case-by-case security review for investments in sensitive areas. The amendments are effective from August twenty-seventh, twenty fourteen, with a clarification that no person will be adversely affected by retrospective effect.

Defence FDI policy: government route up to cap; higher proposals require security clearance and technology access review.
The amendment replaces the Annex B entry for Defence to set a composite foreign investment cap and entry routes: investment up to the cap is permitted under the Government route, while investment beyond the cap will be considered by the Cabinet Committee on Security on a case by case basis where access to modern or state of the art technology is likely. It aggregates all forms of foreign investment, imposes detailed licensing and ownership conditions (including Indian ownership and management, resident Chief Security Officer, and verification of foreign collaborators), prescribes production, sale and quality assurance controls, and designates FIPB as the application channel with specified approval timelines.

Third-party payments allowed for exports and imports; banks may permit them subject to exporter declaration and RBI conditions.
Amendment permits Authorized Dealer Category-1 banks to accept export proceeds from a third party if the exporter declares that third party in the export declaration form and other RBI-prescribed conditions are met, and allows AD Category-1 banks to make import payments to a third party subject to conditions specified by the Reserve Bank of India.

Realization of export proceeds must be declared for third party exports; exporters must ensure compliance for named third party advance payments.
The amendment requires that realization of export proceeds for goods or software exported through a third party be duly declared by the exporter in the appropriate declaration form, and revises Regulation 16(1) so that where an exporter receives advance payment (with or without interest) from a buyer or a third party named in the export declaration, the exporter is under an obligation to ensure the prescribed compliance.

Issuance of equity shares against payable funds permitted for non-residents subject to FDI caps, pricing rules and tax netting.
Amendment permits issuance of equity shares to non-residents against funds payable by the investee company where remittance does not require prior FEMA permission, subject to extant FDI sectoral caps and pricing guidelines as amended by the Reserve Bank, and subject to applicable tax laws with conversion net of taxes.

Overseas direct investment compliance: mandatory use of Form ODI with specified valuation and reporting obligations to regulators.
Amendments require Indian parties and resident individuals to use the prescribed Form ODI for overseas direct investments, including submission of Part I to authorised dealers and filing Parts I and II with the Reserve Bank within thirty days; Part III Annual Performance Reports based on audited JV/WOS accounts must be submitted annually. Valuation requirements accompany remittance applications with specified provider standards, bidding and acquisition remittances and reporting must follow Form ODI procedures, and proprietary concerns need prior Reserve Bank permission via Part I of Form ODI to accept foreign shares subject to specified limits.