Individuals spared from new FEMA reporting requirement: RBI clarifies
The clarification is expected to ease concerns among small digital service providers and individuals receiving or making legitimate cross-border payments for personal or small-scale professional purposes.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that individuals engaging in personal forex transactions will not be required to report their activities under the new FEMA reporting requirements. Governor Sanjay Malhotra made this clarification on Wednesday, as concerns emerged among small digital service providers and freelancers.
The new rules, notified in January and effective from October 1, 2026, initially seemed to apply to all individuals and small exporters. However, the RBI has now clarified that personal imports, exports, earnings, or spending in foreign currency, as well as personal payments for subscriptions, apps, journals, or newspapers, will not require reporting.
The ₹10 lakh threshold for small exporters remains in place, but it applies per bill, not annually. This means that exporters can use a self-declaration and an invoice as an alternative to the more detailed reporting process. Import and export transactions will be covered, but individual exporters and importers will not need to directly file reports on the Import Data Processing and Monitoring System (IEDPMS). Instead, banks and authorized dealers will handle the reporting on their behalf.
The RBI stated that some necessary information was already being provided by customers while making payments, and the additional data requested under the new system aims to improve reporting and provide more granular data on services trade.
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