TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
Master Circular on Money Transfer Service Scheme
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.... PART-A SECTION I Guidelines for permitting (authorising) Indian Agents under Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) SECTION II Guidelines for Overseas Principals SECTION III Guidelines for appointment of Sub-Agents by Indian Agents SECTION IV Guidelines for renewal of permission (authorisation) of existing Indian Agents SECTION V Inspection of Indian Agents SECTION VI KYC/ AML/ CFT Guidelines for Indian Agents SECTION VII General Instructions PART-B Reports / Statements Annex-I: Format for Sub Agents of Indian Agents of MTSS Annex-II: Statement showing details of quantum of remittances received through Money Transfer Scheme during the quarter ended Annex-III: Statement of Collateral kept by Indian Agents Appendix PART-A SECTION I Guidelines for permitting (authorising) Indian Agents under Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS): 1. Introduction 1.1 Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS) is a quick and easy way of transferring personal remittances from abroad to beneficiaries in India. Only inward personal remittances into India such as remittances towards family maintenance and remittances favouring foreign t....
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....vestments in shares of its subsidiaries, companies in the same group, all (other) non-banking financial companies as also the book value of debentures, bonds, outstanding loans and advances made to and deposits with its subsidiaries and companies in the same group in excess of 10 per cent of the Owned funds. 3. Procedure for making Applications to the Reserve Bank Application for necessary permission to act as an Indian Agent may be made to the respective Regional Office of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank of India, under whose jurisdiction the registered office of the applicant falls1 and should be accompanied by the documents pertaining to its proposed Overseas Principal, as detailed in Section II below and the following documents: a. A declaration to the effect that no proceedings have been initiated by / are pending with the Directorate of Enforcement (DoE) / Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) or any other law enforcing authorities, against the applicant or its directors and that no criminal cases are initiated / pending against the applicant or its directors. b. A declaration to the effect that proper policy framework on KYC / ....
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....ances received during the past three months. 5. Other conditions a. Only cross-border personal remittances, such as, remittances towards family maintenance and remittances favouring foreign tourists visiting India shall be allowed under this arrangement. Donations/contributions to charitable institutions/trusts, trade related remittances, remittance towards purchase of property, investments or credit to NRE Accounts shall not be made through this arrangement. b. A cap of US $ 2500 has been placed on individual remittance under the scheme. Amounts up to Rs. 50,000/- may be paid in cash to a beneficiary in India. Any amount exceeding this limit shall be paid by means of account payee cheque/ demand draft/ payment order, etc., or credited directly to the beneficiary's bank account only. However, in exceptional circumstances, where the beneficiary is a foreign tourist, higher amounts may be disbursed in cash. Full details of such transactions should be kept on record for scrutiny by the auditors/ inspectors. c. Only 30 remittances can be received by a single individual beneficiary under the scheme during a calendar year. 6. Criteria for RBI decisions (i) The India....
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.... criterion in case of Overseas Principals incorporated in FATF member countries and are supervised by the concerned Central Bank/ Government or financial regulatory authority. d. The Overseas Principal should be well established in the money transfer business with a track record of operations in well regulated markets. e. The arrangement with Overseas Principal should result in considerably increasing access to formal money transfer facilities at both ends. f. The Overseas Principal should be registered with the overseas trade / Industry bodies. g. The Overseas Principal should have a good rating from one of the international credit rating agencies. h. The Overseas Principal should submit confidential reports from at least two of its bankers. i. The Overseas Principal should submit a report certified by independent Chartered Accountants, regarding steps taken to comply with anti money laundering norms in the home/ host country. j. The Overseas Principals will be fully responsible for the activities of their Agents and Sub Agents in India. k. Proper records of remitters as also beneficiaries pertaining to all pa....
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....tablishment/ other applicable municipal certification in favour of the Sub Agent 9 • verification of physical existence of location of the Sub Agent • conduct certificate of the Sub Agent from the local police authorities. (certified copy of Memorandum and Articles of Association and Certificate of Incorporation in respect of incorporated entities). Note: Although obtaining of conduct certificate of the Sub Agent from the local police authorities is non-mandatory for the Indian Agents, the Indian Agents must take due care to avoid appointing individuals/ entities as Sub Agents who have cases / proceedings initiated / pending against them by any law enforcing agencies. • declaration regarding past criminal cases, cases initiated/ pending against the Sub Agent and/or its directors/ partners by any law enforcing agency, if any • PAN Card of the Sub Agents and its directors/ partners • Photographs of the directors/ partners and the key persons of the Sub Agent The above checks should be done on a regular basis, at least once in a year. The Indian Agents should obtain from the Sub Agents proper documentary evidence c....
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....riod of one year, which may be renewed for one to three years at a time on the basis of fulfilment of all conditions and other directions/ instructions issued by the Reserve Bank from time to time by Indian Agents. 2. The applicant should be an Authorised Dealer Category-I bank or an Authorised Dealer Category-II or a Full Fledged Money Changer (FFMC), as defined in the A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 25 [A.P. (FL Series) Circular No. 02] dated March 6, 2006, or a Scheduled Commercial Bank or the Department of Posts. 3. The Indian Agent should have minimum Net Owned Funds of Rs. 50 lakh. 4. Application for renewal of permission should be submitted to the Regional Office concerned of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank under whose jurisdiction the registered office of the Indian Agent falls along-with the documents pertaining to the Overseas Principal as detailed in Section II above and the following documents: a. A declaration to the effect that no proceedings have been initiated by / are pending with the Directorate of Enforcement (DoE) / Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) or any other law enforcing authorities, against the Indian Agent or i....
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.... agents under MTSS and to their Sub-agents. SECTION VII General Instructions All Overseas Principals are required to submit their annual audited balance sheet along with a certificate on Net Worth from their Statutory Auditors to the concerned Regional Office of the Foreign Exchange Department and the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems of the Reserve Bank. Similarly, all Indian Agents are required to submit their annual audited balance sheet along with a certificate from their Statutory Auditors on Net Owned Funds to the Regional offices concerned of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank. As the Overseas Principals and the Indian Agents are expected to maintain minimum Net Worth and Net Owned Funds respectively on an ongoing basis, they are required to bring it to the notice of the Reserve Bank immediately along with a detailed plan of restoring the Net Worth/ Net Owned Funds to the minimum required level, if there is any reduction in their Net Worth/ Net Owned Funds below the minimum level. PART-B Reports / Statements 1. A quarterly statement of the quantum of remittances received, as per the enclosed format (Annex-II) should be furnished ....
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....x number/s and e-mail id/s. 4. Registered with 5. Registration Number 6. Details of Registration (papers to be attached as at Annex-Ia) 7. PAN Number (copy as at Annex-Ia) 8. Name/s of Banker/s and Bank Account Number/s (enclosures as at Annex-Ia) 9. Details (Name, Nationality, Residential address, Controlling interest in any other company, PAN Number) of each promoter with more than 10% equity holding 10. Paid up capital in Rs. and Number of shares 11. Accounts certified by which Chartered Accountant? Details (Enclosures as at Annex-Ia) 12. Whether prosecuted/ convicted for criminal/ economic offence? If yes, particulars thereof (Enclosures as at Annex-Ia) 13. Whether the Sub Agent is solvent as on date 14. Details (Name, Designation, Nationality, Residential address, PAN No., Name/s of other company/ies in which the person has held any post, Details of equity shareholding in the company, if any) of Chairman/Managing Director/Director/Chief Executive Officer (Details as at Annex-Ia) Note: With reference to point 9, ownership of the Sub Agent should be detailed up to the last layer of equity holding ending in ment....
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....cate. Annex-II Statement showing details of quantum of remittances received through Money Transfer Service Scheme during the quarter ended __________________ Name of the Indian Agent ______________________________________ Name of the Overseas Principal Total quantum of remittances received in US $ INR equivalent Note: This statement is required to be submitted to the Regional Office concerned of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank within 15 days from the close of the quarter to which it relates. Annex-III Statement of Collateral kept by Indian Agents Name of the Indian Agent __________________________ Name of the Overseas Principal Total quantum of remittances received during the past 6 months in US $ Amount of collateral held in US $ Collateral kept in various forms (Foreign Currency Deposit/ Bank Guarantee) Last review of adequacy of collateral along with observations Note: This statement as at the end of June and December every year is required to be submitted to the Regional Office concerned of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank within 15 days from the close of the hal....