The Reserve Bank of India has reassured freelancers, content creators, and small-scale service providers that their personal foreign exchange transactions are exempt from the recent reporting regulations, with a forthcoming FAQ set to clarify permissible activities and ease compliance worries.
The Reserve Bank of India has moved to calm concerns that its new foreign exchange reporting rules would ensnare freelancers, content creators and other individuals doing small-scale work for clients abroad. Governor Sanjay Malhotra said personal transactions are outside the scope of the new reporting requirements that began on October 1, and the central bank plans to publish a frequently asked questions document soon to address the confusion, according to the Hindu BusinessLine.
At a press conference, Malhotra said the rules are aimed at transactions handled in a business context, not ordinary personal activity. He gave examples including subscriptions to television channels, apps, journals and newspapers, and said that individuals providing services such as tutoring or small software assignments from abroad do not have to file reports themselves, as reported by Business Standard and The New Indian Express.
Deputy Governor Rohit Jain also sought to ease compliance worries by saying smaller exporters with bills of up to ₹10 lakh can opt for self-declaration, according to Economic Times and Livemint. He added that the regulations were issued in January, well before they took effect on October 1, a point the central bank appears keen to stress as criticism gathered on social media from people who feared the changes would make it harder to do business.
Malhotra reiterated that the reporting obligation sits with banks, not exporters. Exporters are only required to submit a declaration form, while banks carry out the portal-based reporting, according to the same reports. The forthcoming FAQs are expected to spell out the boundary between personal and commercial transactions more clearly, in an effort to remove uncertainty for individuals and small service providers.
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