We offer our clients a complete suite of services relating to their banking, investments in equities, investments in various Government of India bonds (National Saving Certificates, Indira Vikas Patra, Kisan Vikas Patra to name a few) and savings held with Post Offices in India. With NRI’s or people of the Indian diaspora living abroad, one of the biggest headaches that has emerged over time is to handle requirements related to these funds held in banks or investments in various types of instruments illustrated above.
These movable assets are typically held by NRI’s themselves or their parents and in many cases even by their grandparents. Most of these funds are held in banks or instruments that have been held for long periods of time and can be termed as legacy funds/savings. Such funds held in legacy accounts or instruments have not been kept operational and upto date. NRIs ultimately want to access these funds and use repatriation services to take these funds back to their country of residence.
Coupled with the above realities, the liberalisation and rapid digitisation of the Indian economy over the last many years has led to a rapid evolution of rules and statutes governing such bank accounts/bonds/equities/savings in any other forms in India. India has now caught up with the latest best practices prevalent globally and the requirements involved in keeping such accounts/investments operational and upto date. This has resulted in these funds/investments becoming dormant or getting frozen and thereby making them inaccessible for NRI’s or the legal heirs of the original investee/account holders.
Our banking, financial and repatriation services helps overcome the issues enunciated above in an end to end manner with 360-degree closure loop.
Some of the key services we offer are:
- Activation of Dormant Bank Accounts.
- Complete assistance for clients to acquire all mandatory paperwork and ID’s without which no financial transaction can be concluded, such as PAN Card.
- Opening of new Bank Accounts as per the status of the client – such as NRE or NRO accounts.
- Activation and retrieval of funds held in Accounts that are non-operational for more than 10 years, which are termed as D.E.A.F (Depositor Education & Awareness Fund) accounts and the funds are moved from the Bank to Reserve Bank of India.
- Completion of all Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements with regards to Bank accounts/Equities/Bonds/Post Office Accounts.
- Conversion of equities held in physical form into Demat form, along with opening of a Demat account and regularising of Bank Account linked to Demat accounts.
- Complete suite of repatriation services to repatriate funds held in Bank Accounts/Demat Accounts/Post Office, to the country of residence of our client with full compliance of all Government of India rules and regulations.
FAQs
An NRI can execute a Special Power of Attorney in favour of a local person for the said purpose.
No, the funds cannot be transferred to the account of a deceased person.
PAN card is compulsory for repatriation from India, even if you have a National Insurance Number.
There is no such upper transaction limit for an NRI, and he can easily transfer any amount from his NRE and FCNR accounts. However, it is to be noted that an NRI can remit only an amount up to USD one million out of the balances of an NRO account, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.
Yes, if you have a joint (Either or Survivor) account, in that case, if one holder has passed away, the funds can be repatriated to the surviving holder’s account.
For repatriation, it is mandatory to have Original Bank Documents to initiate and complete the process of repatriation.
No, there is no limitation, and an NRI can maintain multiple accounts with different banks.
An NRI can easily open a Joint Account along with Indian close relatives.
The documents which may be required for repatriation of the fund are: –
- The Application Form requesting for repatriation – It contains details of payee bank account and source of funds.
- A2 form – FEMA declaration
- Form 15 CA and 15 CB (required for NRO a/c)- These forms certify that the customer has paid the requisite taxes.
- PAN Card
The accounts which an NRI can open are:
- Non-Resident External Account (NRE Account)
- Foreign Currency Non-Resident Account (FCNR Account)
- Non-Resident Ordinary Account (NRO Account)
NRIs and PIOs typically require two types of documentation – identity proof and address proof. Valid passports and their address proof abroad and a requirement for income proof such as form 60, along with the PAN card. Further, as part of the procedure, a passport-size photograph and evidence of PIO or NRI status are necessary to ensure that an individual is eligible for an NRO account opening in India. These documents will need attestations at the nearest Indian embassy, notary, or an overseas bank branch of an Indian bank in the individual’s country of residence. Also, the mandatory requirement is that the NRI must be having PAN Card in India.
TDS is deducted when the funds are to be repatriated in that account held in the country of residence of an NRI. However, the TDS deducted can be claimed back while filing Income Tax returns.
Any person residing outside India can open an NRO Account for putting through bonafide transactions in rupees.
When a person attains the status of an NRI, he has to change his bank accounts in India from regular accounts to NRE/NRO accounts. These accounts are also helpful in securing many benefits for an NRI, for example, benefits in the repatriation of funds, exemption from tax etc. Having these accounts are mandatory for an NRI, so if an NRI wants to save his earnings from abroad, he needs to have an NRE account, and if he wants to keep his income generated in India, he needs to have an NRO account.
Yes, the same can be done by following proper procedures. An NRI has to send duly filled and signed Bank documents. Please note the Indian Consulate should duly attest every document.