The Reserve Bank of India has amended the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016 to expand how persons resident outside India can use Special Non-Resident Rupee accounts. The changes allow nonresidents to open, hold and maintain these accounts with an authorized dealer in India or its branch outside India, including a branch in an International Financial Services Centre in India. The revised Schedule 4 also allows SNRR accounts to be used for permissible current and capital account transactions with persons resident in India and for any bona fide transaction with persons resident outside India. The amendment adds a definition of International Financial Services Centre and updates transfer provisions linked to Non-Resident Ordinary accounts under the limits in Regulation 4 of the Foreign Exchange Management (Remittance of Assets) Regulations, 2016, including transfers to NRE or SNRR accounts. It also requires authorized dealer banks to process transactions between persons resident outside India involving SNRR accounts, where compliance under the Act or related rules and regulations may not apply, based on account-holder instructions or mandates stating the underlying purpose of the transfer. The changes take effect from publication in the Official Gazette.
Reserve Bank of India2026-06-18
Reserve Bank of India broadens SNRR account rules to include IFSC branches and wider nonresident transactions
The Reserve Bank of India has amended the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations to widen the use of Special Non-Resident Rupee accounts and allow them to be maintained with authorized dealer branches in India or abroad, including in IFSCs in India. The changes also update NRO transfer rules, including transfers to NRE or SNRR accounts within existing remittance limits, and require stated purpose instructions for certain nonresident-to-nonresident SNRR transactions. The amendment takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.