FEDAI Guidelines for Forex Transactions
FEDAI Guidelines for Forex Transactions
Note: The inserted text is indicated by amendment in coloured font and deletion is indicated in red font.
General Guidelines/Instructions
1. The member banks are free to determine their own charges for various types of forex
transactions, keeping in view the advice of RBI that such charges are not to be out of line
with the average cost of providing services. Banks should take care to ensure that
customers with low volume of activities are not penalised.
2. Banks should prominently display their card rates for foreign currencies on their website
and / or their B Category branches. Banks should also declare
i. Threshold amounts up to which they are committed to apply card rates.
ii. Frequency and time of publishing the card rate
3. Information regarding various forex related programmes, rates advised for various
purposes from time to time, important circulars issued by FEDAI, FEDAI Rules, Public
Register on commitment to Fx Global Code etc. are available at our website
www.fedai.org.in. E-mail address of FEDAI is [email protected].
4. Our reference to Authorised Dealer is the reference to all Authorised Dealers (Category-I)
banks and other person authorised by RBI under section 10 of Foreign Exchange
Management Act 1999 who are members of FEDAI.
5. All members shall abide by FEDAI Code of Conduct 2017 (As updated from time to time)
and shall submit their „Statement of Commitment‟ in prescribed format. Members shall
confirm in April each year that they have obtained the Statement in Annexure-I to FEDAI
Circular SPL-11.BC /2017 dated 08th November 2017SPL-04/COC/2021 dated 07th
September 2021 from all the concerned employees.
General Rule 5 amended vide AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2ndNovember 2020
General Rule 5 further amended vide AR Circular No. 01/2022 date 08th February 2022
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RULE 1
HOURS OF BUSINESS FOR QUOTING FX RATES
1.1 The normal market hours for on shore deliverable FCY/INR transactions in Inter-
bank forex market as well as client transactions in India would be from 9.00 a.m. to
5.00 p.m. IST on all working days as prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India from
time to time for inter-bank transactions.
Rule 1.1 amended vide AR Circular No. 01.BC/2020 date 23rd January 2020
Rule 1.1 further amended vide AR Circular No. 02/2024 date 05th April 2024
1.2 (A) Authorised dealers may undertake customer (persons resident in India and
persons resident outside India) and inter-bank transactions on all working business
days beyond normal market hours.
(B) Transactions with persons resident outside India, through their foreign branches
and subsidiaries may also be undertaken on all working business days beyond
normal market hours.
I However, value Cash transactions may be undertaken only upto 5.00 pm IST, except in case of
individual person (including joint account or proprietary firm).*deleted w.e.f. 14 February 2022
(DC) Transactions, including value cash transactions, for individual persons
(including joint account or proprietary firm) can be undertaken even on Saturdays,
Sundays and holidays as per banks internal policy.
(ED) Any transaction undertaken beyond the market hours prescribed under Rule
1.1, bank must ensure that:
NOOP Limit is maintained all the times [including transactions executed from EOD
to 9.00 am IST (market opening time) next working business day].
Spot date Roll over for FCY/INR transactions will take place at 12.00 midnight IST.
Rule 1.2 amended vide AR Circular No. 01.BC/2020 date 23rdJanuary 2020
Rule 1.(C)2 amended vide AR Circular No. 01/2022 date 08th February 2022
Rule 1.2 amended vide AR Circular No. 02/2024 date 05th April 2024
1.3 For the purpose of Foreign Exchange business, Saturday will not be treated as a
working business day except for transactions as stated in 1.2 (DC) above.
Rule 1.3 amended vide AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2nd November 2020
1.4 “Known holiday” is one which is known at least 3 working business days before the
date.
A holiday that is not a “known holiday” is defined as a “suddenly declared
holiday”.
Note: Suppose days 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all working business days.
If day 4 is declared as a holiday on or after day 1, it will be a suddenly declared
holiday.
If day 4 is declared as a holiday prior to day 1, it would be a known holiday.
***
RULE 2
EXPORT TRANSACTIONS
d) Dishonour of bills
In case of dishonour of a bill before crystallisation the bank shall recover;
i) Rupee equivalent amount of the bill and foreign currency charges at TT selling
rate.
ii) Appropriate interest and rupee denominated charges.
b) Bill drawn on DP/At Sight Basis and not under Letter of Credit (LC)
(i) Bill in Foreign Currencies – 25 days
(ii) Bills in Rupees not under Letter of Credit– 20 days
AD Bank may apply transit period that varies (Higher or lower) from above prescribed
NTP for exceptional situations based on historic data for specific exporter/overseas
buyer/supply destination and mode of transportation etc. Any deviation from above
prescribed NTP should be documented with rationale for such deviation.
In case of extending finance beyond above prescribed NTP, maximum period is
restricted up to 90 days from the date of shipment.
AD Bank should be responsible to demonstrate the document relying upon which the
facility of post-shipment export finance provided for extended/reduced NTP period. No
changes in due date shall be permitted subsequent to the purchase, discounting or
negotiation of export bill.
c) Exports to county under United Nations Guidelines – Max. 120 days
***
RULE 3
IMPORT TRANSACTIONS
3.1 Application of exchange rate
a) Retirement of import bills Exchange rate as per hedge contract, if hedge
contract is in place.
Prevailing Bill Selling rate, in case there is no
hedge contract.
b) Crystallisation of Import bill same as above
(vide para 3.3 below)
c) For determination of stamp As per exchange rate provided by the
duty on import bills authority concerned.
***
RULE 4
CLEAN INSTRUMENTS
4.4 The applicable exchange rate for conversion of the foreign currency inward
remittance shall be TT buying rate or the contracted rate as the case may be.
In case of delay, the bank shall pay the beneficiary interest @ 2% over its savings
bank interest rate. The bank shall also pay compensation for adverse movement of
exchange rate, if any, as per its compensation policy specifying the reference rate
and date applicable for calculating such exchange loss.
In case, the beneficiary does not respond within five working business days from
receipt of credit intimation as above and the bank does not return the remittance
to the remitting bank, the bank shall initiate action to crystallise the remittance;
a. Bank notify due action to the remitting bank and the beneficiary
b. Bank shall crystallise the remittance within certain period as per their policy,
not exceeding the time allowed for surrendering of foreign currency under any
Stature or Regulation or RBI Directions.
Rule 4.5 amended vide AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2nd November 2020
Rule 2.3(d)(iv) amended vide AR Circular No. 02/2024 date 05th April 2024
4.6 Transfer of funds between Vostro Accounts with two banks (w.e.f. 1st April 2013)
i. The bank carrying out interbank Vostro transfer by RTGS domestic wire transfer
should mention in the “Remark” column of the RTGS domestic wire transfer
message, a statement to the following effect – “We undertake to send form A3
separately”.
Rule 4.6(i) amended vide AR Circular No. 02/2024 date 05th April 2024
ii. It is decided to fix time limit of 5 working business days for receipt of form A3 at
beneficiary bank‟s end. Delay beyond 5 days would attract penalty on the
remitting bank.
iii. In case, beneficiary bank does not get form A3 within 5 working business days,
they must lodge a claim with the remitting bank within 15 days, from the date of
transfer of funds. Remitting bank should ensure that Form A3 reaches the
beneficiary bank promptly thereafter.
iv. Remitting bank would be required to pay beneficiary bank penalty at the rate of
Rs. 1000/- per day for the period in excess of 5 days from the date of transfer of
funds, till the form A3 reaches the beneficiary bank.
v. If beneficiary bank lodges the claim after 15 days from the date of transfer of
funds, the claim amount will be capped at Rs. 10,000/-
vi. In case of any dispute between the banks, the matter may be referred to FEDAI.
FEDAI will appoint a sub-committee of 3 members from the Managing Committee
and give directions to the parties concerned.
***
RULE 5
FOREIGN EXCHANGE CONTRACTS
For Example: 18th Jan to 17th Feb, 31st Jan to 29th Feb 2016.
“Ready” or “Cash” merchant contract is deliverable on the same day.
“Value next day” contract shall be deliverable on the working business day
immediately succeeding the contract date.
A spot contract shall be deliverable on second succeeding working business day
following the contract date.
A forward contract is a contract deliverable at a future date, beyond Spot Date.
Duration of the contract being computed from spot value date at the time of
transaction.
***
RULE 6
EARLY DELIVERY, EXTENSION AND CANCELLATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE CONTRACTS
6.1 General
i. At the request of a customer, unless stated to the contrary in the provisions of
FEMA, 1999, it is optional for a bank to:
a) Accept or give early delivery, or
b) Extend the contract.
ii. It is the responsibility of a customer to effect delivery or request the bank for
extension/cancellation as the case may be, on or before the maturity date of
the contract.
6.3 Extension
Foreign exchange contracts where extension is sought by the customers shall be
cancelled (at an appropriate selling or buying rate as on the date of cancellation)
and rebooked simultaneously only at the current rate of exchange. The difference
between the contracted rate, and the rate at which the contract is cancelled, shall
be recovered from/paid to the customer as per Rule No. 6.4. Such request for
extension shall be made on or before the maturity date of the contract.
6.4 Cancellation
i. Recovery/ Payment of Loss /Gain
a) In case of cancellation of a contract at the request of a customer (if the request is
made on or before the maturity date) the Authorised Dealer shall recover/ pay,
as the case may be, the difference between the contracted rate and the rate at
which the cancellation is effected.
b) The process of recovery of exchange difference on cancellation of forward
contracts on or before the maturity date will be as follows:
The recovery can be either in lump sum or in installments.
Repayment period should not extend beyond the maturity date of the
contract.
The repayment installments should be uniformly received over the
remaining maturity of the contract and its periodicity should be at least
once in a quarter
c) The banks should have Board approved policy to deal with recovery and
payment of exchange difference and other charges on above lines. The details
should be made available to the customers transparently on upfront basis.
iii. Notwithstanding the fact that the exchange contract between the customer and the
bank becomes impossible for performance, for whatever reason, including
Government prohibitory orders, the exchange contract shall not be deemed to have
become void and the customer shall forthwith apply to the Authorised Dealer for
cancellation, as per the provisions of paragraph 6.4(i) and (ii) above.
iv. a. In the absence of any instructions from the customer, vide para 6.1(ii), a contract
which has matured shall be cancelled by the bank within the period of not
exceeding three working business day after the maturity date, as per the policy of
the respective bank.
b. Swap cost, if any, shall be recovered from the customer under advice to him.
c. When a For contract is cancelled after the maturity date[refer Para (a) above], the
customer shall not be entitled to the exchange difference, if any, in his favour of the
customer, since the contract is cancelled on account of his default on the part of
customer. He Customer shall, however, be liable to pay the exchange difference,
against him. Banks may pass the exchange gain provided it is satisfied that the
contract became overdue as client could not give cancellation instructions on
account of factors which were beyond the control of the client. Such instances along
with specific justification, shall be kept on record by the Bank.
Rule 6.4(iv) amended vide AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2nd November 2020
If such a swap leads to inflow of funds, interest shall be paid to the customer. Funds
outlay/ inflow shall be arrived at by taking the difference between the original contract
rate and the rate at which the swap could be arranged.
The rate of interest to be recovered/ paid and the threshold limit for the same may be
determined by banks as per their policy in this regard.
***
RULE – 7
BUSINESS THROUGH INTERMEDIARIES
7.1 Intermediaries
Exchange brokers, Multi Bank Portals (MBP), Electronic Order Matching Systems
(EOMS) are some of the commonly used intermediaries in foreign exchange
markets. While such intermediaries were earlier accredited by FEDAI, from 05
October 2018, FEDAI will continue to be the accrediting agency for Exchange
Brokers (Voice) only. Electronic Trading Platforms viz. MBPs and EOMs will
require to obtain authorisation from RBI. ETPs existing and operating on or before
the commencement of these directions shall make an application for authorisation
within a period of six months from the date of issue of these directions. An
existing ETP Operator may continue to carry on the operations till disposal of its
application by the Reserve Bank granting or rejecting the letter of authorization.
Authorised Dealers shall use the services of intermediaries accredited by
FEDAI/RBI. No brokerage, fees, charges or any other form of remuneration shall
be paid by the Authorised Dealers to other bank employees on any foreign
exchange contracts.
Rule 7.1 amended vide AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2nd November 2020
7.2 Accredited intermediaries will conform to the rules, conditions and the code of
conduct laid down by FEDAI from time to time. FEDAI may review the working
and standing of accredited intermediaries from time to time. Any accredited
intermediary who conducts any business contrary to the rules of FEDAI may have
his accreditation withdrawn and no Authorised Dealer shall transact any business
with him thereafter.
7.3 It shall be the duty of each Authorised Dealer and the associations of Exchange
Brokers (Voice) to report to FEDAI, the name of an intermediary who suggests,
proposes or transacts any business which is contrary to the rules of FEDAI.
If a claim is not settled within 15 working business days, the seller bank will
be required to pay interest at the rate mentioned in 8.2 above for the entire
overdue period. The cap of 60 days for interest payment as mentioned in 8.4
above will not apply in such cases.
8.11 All the member banks who deal in Forex Forward should become & retain
membership of CCIL‟s Forex Forward Guaranteed Settlement segment. All
interbank Forex Forward contracts should be subjected to the CCIL‟s Forex
Forward Settlement segment.
Rule 8.11 amended vide AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2nd November 2020
***
List of AR Circulars issued subsequent to Adoption of FEDAI Rules w.e.f. 01 April 2019:
1.
rd
Rule 1.1 amended vide AR Circular No. 01.BC/2020 date 23 January 2020
2.
nd
AR Circular No. 04/2020 date 2 November 2020
3.
th
General Rule 5 further amended vide AR Circular No. 01/2022 date 08 February 2022
4.
th
AR Circular No. 02/2024 date 05 April 2024