Authorised Dealers have the Power to List or Delist from Caution List of Dubious Exporters, Signals 'the end' to Auto Listing

[A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No.03 dated October 09, 2020]

Sub: Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS) Module for ‘Caution/De- caution Listing of Exporters’ - Review

Please refer to Para 4 of Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies issued on October 9, 2020. In this connection, attention of Authorised Dealer Category – I banks (AD banks) is invited to Para 3.1 of the APDIR Circular No. 74 dated May 26, 2016 on the Module for ‘Caution/ De-caution Listing of Exporters’ in the EDPMS. The extant procedure as laid down in the above para has since been revisited and it has been decided to withdraw the existing para 3 (1) (i) and 3 (1) (ii) with a view to make system more exporter friendly and equitable.

2. Under the revised procedure, an exporter would be caution-listed by the Reserve Bank based on the recommendations of the AD bank concerned, depending upon the exporters track record with the AD bank and investigative agencies. The AD bank would make recommendations in this regard to the Regional Office concerned of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank in case the exporter has come to the adverse notice of the Enforcement Directorate(ED) / Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) / Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) /any such other law enforcement agency and/or the exporter is not traceable and/or is not making sincere efforts to realise the export proceeds.

3. Similarly, the AD bank would also make recommendations to the Regional Office of the Reserve Bank for de-caution-listing an exporter as per the laid down procedure.

4. The procedural aspects on handling of shipping documents of the caution-listed exporters by the AD banks, as outlined in Para 3.2 of the circular ibid, remain unchanged.

5. AD banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents concerned. The Master Direction number 16/2015 dated January 1, 2016 is being updated to reflect the above changes.

6. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Section 10 (4) and Section 11 (1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 (42 of 1999) and are without prejudice to permissions / approvals, if any, required under any other law.