Exporter received advance against exports. How Does Exporters Bank in India account?
According to Reserve Bank of India update as on 08th January 2021, the directions on Indian Banking procedures on Receipt of advance against exports is given below:
C.2 Receipt of advance against exports
(1) In terms of Regulation 15 of Notification No. FEMA 23 (R)/2015-RB dated January 12, 2016, where an exporter receives advance payment (with or without interest), from a buyer outside India, the exporter shall be under an obligation to ensure that the shipment of goods is made within one year from the date of receipt of advance payment; the rate of interest, if any, payable on the advance payment does not exceed London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) + 100 basis points; and the documents covering the shipment are routed through the AD Category – I bank through whom the advance payment is received.
Provided that in the event of the exporter’s inability to make the shipment, partly or fully, within one year from the date of receipt of advance payment, no remittance towards refund of unutilized portion of advance payment or towards payment of interest, shall be made after the expiry of the said period of one year, without the prior approval of the Reserve Bank.
EDPMS will capture the details of advance remittances received for exports in EDPMS. Henceforth, AD Category – I banks will have to report all the inward remittances including advance as well as old outstanding inward remittances received for export of goods/ software to EDPMS. Further, AD Category – I banks need to report the electronic FIRC to EDPMS wherever such FIRCs are issued against inward remittances.
The quarterly return being submitted for delay in utilization of advances received for export stands discontinued.
(2) AD Category- I banks can also allow exporters having a minimum of three years’ satisfactory track record to receive long term export advance up to a maximum tenor of 10 years to be utilized for execution of long term supply contracts for export of goods subject to the conditions as under:
(i) Firm irrevocable supply orders and contracts should be in place. The contract with the overseas party/ buyer should be vetted and the same shall clearly specify the nature, amount and delivery timelines of the products over the years and penalty in case of non-performance or contract cancellation. Product pricing should be in consonance with prevailing international prices.
(ii) Company should have capacity, systems and processes in place to ensure that the orders over the duration of the said tenure can actually be executed.
(iii) The facility is to be provided only to those entities, which have not come under the adverse notice of Enforcement Directorate or any such regulatory agency or have not been caution listed.
(iv) Such advances should be adjusted through future exports.
(v) The rate of interest payable, if any, should not exceed LlBOR plus 200 basis points.
(vi) The documents should be routed through one Authorized Dealer bank only.
(vii) Authorised Dealer bank should ensure compliance with AML / KYC guidelines
(viii) Such export advances shall not be permitted to be used to liquidate Rupee loans classified as NPA.
(ix) Double financing for working capital for execution of export orders should be avoided.
(x) Receipt of such advance of USD 100 million or more should be immediately reported to the Trade Division, Foreign Exchange Department, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, Mumbai.
(xi) In case Authorized Dealer banks are required to issue bank guarantee (BG) / Stand by Letter of Credit (SBLC) for export performance, then the issuance should be rigorously evaluated as any other credit proposal keeping in view, among others, prudential requirements based on board approved policy.
a) BG / SBLC may be issued for a term not exceeding two years at a time and further rollover of not more than two years at a time may be allowed subject to satisfaction with relative export performance as per the contract.
b) BG / SBLC should cover only the advance on reducing balance basis.
c) BG / SBLC issued from India in favor of overseas buyer should not be discounted by the overseas branch / subsidiary of bank in India.
Note: AD Category – I banks may also be guided by the Master Circular on Guarantees and Co-acceptances issued by Department of Banking Regulation.
(xii) AD Category – I banks may allow the purchase of foreign exchange from the market for refunding advance payment credited to EEFC account only after utilizing the entire balances held in the exporter’s EEFC accounts maintained at different branches/banks.
(3) AD Category- I banks may allow exporters to receive advance payment for export of goods which would take more than one year to manufacture and ship and where the ‘export agreement’ provides for shipment of goods extending beyond the period of one year from the date of receipt of advance payment subject to the following conditions:-
(i) The KYC and due diligence exercise has been done by the AD Category – I bank for the overseas buyer;
(ii) Compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering standards has been ensured;
(iii) The AD Category-I bank should ensure that export advance received by the exporter should be utilized to execute export and not for any other purpose i.e., the transaction is a bonafide transaction;
(iv) Progress payment, if any, should be received directly from the overseas buyer strictly in terms of the contract;
(v) The rate of interest, if any, payable on the advance payment shall not exceed London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) + 100 basis points;
(vi) There should be no instance of refund exceeding 10% of the advance payment received in the last three years;
(vii) The documents covering the shipment should be routed through the same authorised dealer bank; and
(viii) In the event of the exporter's inability to make the shipment, partly or fully, no remittance towards refund of unutilized portion of advance payment or towards payment of interest should be made without the prior approval of the Reserve Bank.
(4) (i) As it has been observed that there is substantial increase in the number and amount of advances received for exports remaining outstanding beyond the stipulated period on account of non-performance of such exports (shipments in case of export of goods), AD Category –I banks are advised to efficiently follow up with the concerned exporters in order to ensure that export performance (shipments in case of export of goods) are completed within the stipulated time period.
(ii) It is further reiterated that AD category –I banks should exercise proper due diligence and ensure compliance with KYC and AML guidelines so that only bonafide export advances flow into India. Doubtful cases as also instances of chronic defaulters may be referred to Directorate of Enforcement (DoE) for further investigation. A quarterly statement indicating details of such cases may be forwarded to the concerned Regional Offices of RBI within 21 days from the end of each quarter.
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