Import trade is regulated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under the Ministry of
Commerce & Industry, Department
of Commerce, Government of India. Authorised Dealer Category – I
(AD Category – I) banks should ensure that the imports into India are in conformity with the Foreign Trade
Policy in force and
Foreign Exchange Management (Current
Account Transactions) Rules, 2000
framed by the Government of India vide Notification No. G.S.R.381
(E) dated May 3, 2000 and
the Directions issued by Reserve Bank under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
from time to time.
Remittance of payments towards imports.
Time Limit for settlement of Import and
other conditions
§ Applications by persons, firms and companies for making payments, exceeding USD
500 or its equivalent, towards imports
into India must be made on the appropriate Form A-1. Form A- 1 is an exhaustive form covering the details of Import licence particulars, Particulars
of import w.r.t description
of goods, country of origin
etc.
§ Remittances against imports should be
completed within prescribed time
limits for making
import payments or an
approval from the AD/Reserve Bank of India must
be obtained prior to the due date.
§ Interest on delayed payments must be within
the prescribed ceilings.
§ In case of imports, where value of foreign exchange remitted/paid for import into India exceeds
USD 100,000 or its equivalent, the documents evidencing the import like Bill of Entry etc shall
be required to be submitted within
three months from
the date of shipment.
§ Where imports are made in non-physical form, i.e., software or data through internet/datacom
channels and drawings
and designs through
e-mail/fax,
a
certificate from a Chartered
Accountant that the software / data / drawing/ design has been received by the importer must be submitted to AD
Merchanting
Trade
Merchanting trade transactions or intermediary trade transactions can be undertaken, subject to the
following: -
(a)
Goods involved
in the transactions are permitted to be imported
into India
(b) All rules, regulations and directions applicable to export (except Export Declaration Form)
and import (except
Bill of Entry) are
complied with.
(c) The
entire
merchant trade transaction is
completed within a
period of 6 months.
(d) The transactions do not involve foreign exchange outlay for a period
exceeding
3 months. (e) Payment is received
in time for the export leg of the
transaction.
(f) Where payment for the export leg of the
transaction precedes payment for the import leg of the
transaction, liability for the import
leg
is extinguished without delay by the payment
received for the export leg.
(g) No short-term
credit by
way of
buyers/suppliers
credit is made available for these
transactions.
