The Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, eased foreign exchange management (deposit) regulations pertaining to opening of accounts by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and foreign venture capital investors (FVCIs), and opening of non-resident ordinary (NRO) account by long-term visa (LTV) holders.
The central bank said that banks, which are authorised to deal in foreign exchange, can allow SEBI-registered FPI and FVCI to open and maintain a non-interest-bearing foreign currency account for the purpose of making investments.
Further, such banks can open only one non-resident ordinary (NRO) account for a citizen of Bangladesh or Pakistan, belonging to minority communities in those countries, namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, residing in India and who has been granted a long-term visa (LTV) by the Central government. The account will be converted to a resident account once such a person becomes a citizen of India.
“This account can also be opened if such person has applied for LTV, which is under consideration of the Central government, in which case, the account will be opened for a period of six months and may be renewed at six monthly intervals subject to the condition that the individual holds a valid visa and valid residential permit issued by the foreigner registration office (FRO)/ foreigner regional registration office (FRRO) concerned,” the central bank said in a notification.
The opening of such NRO accounts will be subject to reporting of the details of the accounts opened by the concerned authorised bank to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on a quarterly basis.