Repatriation duty: realised foreign exchange must be returned to India and either sold, held with an authorised dealer, or applied to foreign liabilities.
A resident entitled to foreign exchange must realise and repatriate it to India and must not delay or frustrate receipt. Repatriation may be effected by selling to an authorised person for rupees, holding with an authorised dealer as specified by the Reserve Bank, or using it to discharge foreign-currency liabilities in the manner specified. Receipts in rupees from overseas bank or exchange house accounts maintained with an authorised dealer are deemed repatriation. Time-limited surrender obligations apply to non-individual residents and to resident individuals, with an exemption for Nepalese and Bhutanese currency.

Currency Export/Import Limits set for residents and visitors, with declaration requirements, RBI permissions, special rules for Nepal and Bhutan.
The regulations control export and import of Indian currency and foreign exchange by prescribing permissible limits for residents and visitors, authorising the Reserve Bank to permit exceptions, prohibiting export of certain coins, requiring arrival declarations for specified foreign currency brought into India, allowing unrestricted inbound foreign exchange other than notes and travellers cheques, and providing special denomination and limit rules for transfers to and from Nepal and Bhutan.

Foreign exchange purchase via postal and money orders permitted from post offices, subject to applicable law and rules.
The Reserve Bank permits any person to buy from any Post Office foreign exchange in the form of postal orders or money orders, subject to applicable law and rules; this authorization is issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act and supersedes the earlier notification, taking effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Currency definition expanded to include debit and ATM cards, treating instruments that create financial liability as currency.
Definition of currency expanded to include debit cards, ATM cards and any other instrument that can create a financial liability, thereby bringing such card-based and analogous payment instruments within the regulatory definition of currency under clause (h) of Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act; the notification supersedes the earlier notification and takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.

Cross-border insurance holdings: residents may hold foreign life and general policies subject to remittance limits and permissions.
Residents may hold foreign health insurance if aggregate remittance including premiums does not exceed the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. Insurance for property in India or Indian-registered vessels with foreign insurers requires IRDA permission. Other foreign general policies require Central Government permission; policies acquired while non-resident may be continued. For life policies, holding requires specific or general permission of the Reserve Bank of India, with continuation allowed for policies acquired while non-resident. Premiums remitted from India trigger a requirement to repatriate maturity proceeds or claim amounts to India through banking channels within seven days.

Possession of foreign currency limited for residents while authorised persons and foreign coins may be held without limit.
The regulations set physical possession and retention limits: authorised persons may possess foreign currency and coins without limit within scope of authority; any person may possess foreign coins without limit; residents may retain foreign currency notes, bank notes and travellers' cheques up to a specified aggregate amount subject to conditions on how they were acquired; persons resident but not permanently resident may possess without limit foreign currency acquired while resident abroad and brought into India in accordance with regulations.

Security receipts permitted for non-resident investment when issued by securitisation companies under prescribed regulatory conditions.
Amendment inserts security receipts issued by securitisation companies into Schedule 5 of the FEMA regulations as eligible for transfer or issue to persons resident outside India, conditional on meeting requirements specified by the regulatory authorities; the change is effected across multiple paragraphs of Schedule 5 and takes effect on Gazette publication.

Electronic filing requirement for foreign contributions mandates online registration, disclosure of accounts, and prompt bank transaction reporting.
The Rules mandate electronic submission of applications for registration, prior permission and renewal in Form FC-3 with signed or digitally signed uploads and scanned documents, substitute and standardise Forms FC-1 to FC-10, require online payment gateway options, and oblige registered recipients to publish audited statements of receipts and utilisation on their official or Government specified website within nine months of year end. Banks must report any receipt or utilisation transaction of foreign contribution to the Central Government within forty eight hours. Changes to account, name, aims or key members must be intimated online in Form FC-6 within fifteen days.

Mode of payment expansion permits RBI-directed additional payment modes for authorised dealers under FEMA regulations.
The amendment inserts into Regulation 5 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Manner of Receipt and Payment) Regulations, 2000 a provision authorising "any other mode of payment" in accordance with directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India to authorised dealers, thereby permitting the RBI to prescribe additional payment methods for foreign exchange receipts and payments.

Regulatory power over issuance of foreign convertible bonds allows RBI, with government, to change issuance rules for FCCBs and FCEBs.
The amendment adds provisos to Regulation 21 allowing the Reserve Bank, in consultation with the Government of India, to change or prescribe any provision or proviso for issuance of foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) and foreign currency exchangeable bonds (FCEBs), including modifications applicable to both the automatic route and the approval route; the Regulations are titled as the 2015 amendment and come into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

RBI power to prescribe foreign borrowing parameters expanded; can modify eligibility, terms, and transition dates.
The Reserve Bank of India may, in consultation with the Government of India, prescribe or modify for both the automatic and approval routes any provision or proviso concerning parameters for overseas borrowings in foreign currency or Indian rupees, including eligible borrowers and lenders, permitted purposes, amount, maturity, all in cost, security, pre payment, parking of proceeds, reporting and drawal, refinancing and debt servicing, and may prescribe the date from which new provisions or cessation of existing provisos will take effect.

Investment vehicle access by non-residents permits acquisition and transfer of units subject to remittance, ownership and sectoral conditions.
Non-residents (excluding Pakistan and Bangladesh) including RFPIs and NRIs may acquire, hold, transfer or redeem units of regulated Investment Vehicles (REITs, InvITs, AIFs) subject to Schedule 11: payment by inward remittance (including NRE/FCNR debit); disposals as per SEBI or RBI rules; pledge of units permitted to secure credit; AIF Category III with foreign investment limited to RFPI-eligible instruments; downstream investments treated as foreign if Sponsor/Manager/Investment Manager is not Indian owned and controlled and must conform to sectoral caps and LLP specific rules; reporting to RBI/SEBI required.

Real estate business definition narrowed to exclude certain construction activities and SEBI regulated REITs, clarifying capital account scope.
The amendment substitutes Explanation (i) to Regulation 4(b) so that, for the purpose of that regulation, "real estate business" does not include development of townships, construction of residential or commercial premises, roads or bridges, and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) registered and regulated under the SEBI REITs Regulations, 2014.

Composite foreign investment cap now includes all direct and indirect investments, with debt-like instruments excluded until conversion.
Amendments clarify that Total Foreign Investment comprises all direct and indirect foreign investments made under the Regulations' Schedules; FCCBs and DRs with debt-like underlying instruments are excluded unless converted into equity, in which case resulting equity is counted. Schedule 1 provisos establish that sectoral caps are composite (including all foreign investment), set rules on minimum capitalization (including share premium only at time of issue to non-residents), confirm approval requirements where ownership or control transfers to non-residents, permit certain portfolio investments to avoid approval if they do not transfer ownership/control, and impose onus of compliance on the investee company.

NRI subscription to National Pension System allowed via banking channels with repatriable annuity and specified payment routes.
Non-Resident Indians may subscribe to the National Pension System through normal banking channels if eligible under the applicable pension regulations; the annuity and accumulated savings will be repatriable. Payments for such subscriptions may be made by inward remittance through normal banking channels or from funds held in NRE, FCNR, or NRO accounts.

Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets: LLPs with foreign investment must file an annual report to the central bank.
An amendment to Schedule 9 requires all LLPs that have received Foreign Direct Investment to submit an Annual Return on Foreign Liabilities and Assets to the Reserve Bank, in the form specified by the Reserve Bank, annually on or before the fifteenth day of July.

Regularization of foreign assets: payment of tax and penalty prevents FEMA proceedings, subject to RBI permission or repatriation.
A resident who declares an undisclosed foreign asset and pays tax and penalty under the Black Money Act is not subject to proceedings under the Foreign Exchange Management Act in respect of that asset. If the declarant intends to continue holding the asset, they must apply to the Reserve Bank for permission where necessary; if they do not intend to retain the asset or if permission is refused, they must dispose of the asset and repatriate proceeds to India through the banking channel within the period prescribed by the Reserve Bank.

Authorisation of enforcement officers as Authorised Officer under FEMA empowers designated ranks to perform statutory enforcement functions.
The Central Government authorises officers of the Directorate of Enforcement holding the rank of Assistant Director or above to act as Authorised Officer under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, delegating to them the statutory functions and duties of an authorised officer by administrative notification and linking the scope of that delegation to rank eligibility and formal appointment.

Mandatory threshold for foreign assets established under FEMA, requiring a prescribed minimum aggregate value for cross border holdings.
The Central Government, under the proviso to sub section (1) of Section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, prescribes a mandatory threshold for the aggregate value of Foreign Exchange, Foreign Security or any immovable property situated outside India, thereby establishing a statutory minimum aggregate value applicable to those categories of foreign assets.

Commencement of Finance Act provisions appointed to take effect on specified date by Central Government notification.
The Central Government, invoking clause A of section 138 of the Finance Act, 2015, appoints the 9th day of September, 2015 as the date on which clause B of section 138, sections 140, 141 and 142, and clause (ii) of section 143 of the Finance Act, 2015 shall come into force, by notification issued by the Ministry of Finance.