If you sell goods or services abroad, the money must now reach India within nine months of the export instead of fifteen. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made this change in the rules under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and it applies from 1 October 2026. The longer outer limit also drops from eighteen months to twelve.
- Time to receive export payment: 15 months becomes 9 months. An export shipped on 15 October 2026 should be paid for by 15 July 2027.
- The longer outer limit: 18 months becomes 12 months.
- Exporters already on RBI's Caution List (a list of exporters who delayed payments) on 30 September 2026 stay under their existing orders.
- Your bank can now settle older export and import cases, from before 1 October 2026, that earlier needed RBI's own approval.
What changes
When an Indian business exports goods or services, FEMA requires the payment (the "export value") to be received in India within a fixed time. This is called realisation. The rules notified on 13 January 2026 allowed fifteen months, with a longer limit in some cases. This amendment shortens both:
| Regulation 5(1) | Before | From 1 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Clauses (a) and (b) - period to realise export value | 15 months | 9 months |
| First proviso - the longer limit | 18 months | 12 months |
A new proviso to regulation 13 keeps exporters who are on the Caution List as on 30 September 2026 under the orders already issued against them under regulation 16 of the 2015 export regulations, until RBI removes them from the list.
A new regulation 20 lets Authorised Dealer (AD) banks (the banks RBI allows to handle foreign-exchange business, which is usually your own bank) handle export, import and merchanting trade transactions (buying goods abroad and selling them abroad without bringing them into India) undertaken before 1 October 2026 that until now needed RBI's approval under the 2015 regulations and the two Master Directions on export and import. In practice, older cases that were stuck for want of RBI approval can now be closed at the bank.
Who it applies to
- Every exporter of goods and services, and merchanting traders.
- Importers and merchanting traders with transactions from before 1 October 2026 that are awaiting RBI approval.
- AD Category-I banks, which monitor export realisation on EDPMS and will now approve older cases themselves.
What to do now
- Review export contracts, credit terms and letters of credit so that payment falls due well within nine months of shipment.
- Look at your open shipments on EDPMS (RBI's system where banks track whether each export has been paid for) and plan realisation, write-off or extension requests before the new limits bite.
- If you have older transactions waiting for RBI approval, take them up with your AD bank under the new regulation 20.
- Brief your finance and treasury teams. Delays in realisation beyond the permitted period can lead to caution-listing and action under FEMA.
- FEMA
- Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 - the law on money coming into and going out of India.
- Realisation
- Receiving the payment for an export in India.
- AD bank
- A bank authorised by RBI to deal in foreign exchange - usually the bank you export through.
- Caution List
- RBI's list of exporters who delayed bringing export money home; they face stricter checks.
- Merchanting trade
- Buying goods from one country and selling them to another without the goods coming into India.
This update summarises an official document for general information. It is not legal advice; please consult us before acting on it.