Given below are the highlights
of certain RBI Circulars & Notifications
85. FED Master Direction No. 9/2015-16 dated January 1, 2016
Master Direction – Insurance
This Notification contains the
updated Master Direction 9 on Insurance. The Master Directions have been
updated up to November 17, 2016 and are Annexed to this Notification. The
Master Direction prescribes the manner in which insurance business, in foreign
exchange, has to be conducted and deals with the following topics: –
1. Introduction.
2. Foreign Exchange Regulations
relating to General / Health / Life Insurance from Insurers outside India.
3. Foreign Exchange Regulations
relating to General/ Health Insurance from insurers in India.
4. Foreign Exchange Regulations
relating to Life Insurance from insurers in India.
86. Corrigendum dated November 25, 2016
Notification No. FEMA.362/2016-RB dated February 15, 2016
This corrigendum replaces
paragraph 2(C) (iv), S. No. 9.3 and 9.3.1 of Notification No. FEMA.362/2016-RB
dated February 15, 2016 as under: –
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9.3
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Air Transport Services
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(1) (a) Scheduled Air Transport Service / Domestic Scheduled Passenger Airline
(b) Regional Air Transport Service
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49%
(100% for NRIs)
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Automatic
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(2) Non-Scheduled Air
Transport Service
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100%
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Automatic
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(3) Helicopter services/
seaplane services requiring DGCA approval
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100%
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Automatic
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9.3.1
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Other Conditions
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(a) Air Transport Services would include Domestic Scheduled
Passenger Airlines; Non-Scheduled Air Transport Services, helicopter and
seaplane services.
(b) Foreign airlines are allowed to participate in the equity of
companies operating Cargo airlines, helicopter and seaplane services, as per
he limits and entry routes mentioned above.
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9.3.1
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Other Conditions
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(c) Foreign airlines are also allowed to invest in the capital
of Indian companies, operating scheduled and non-scheduled air transport
services, up to the limit of 49% of their paid-up capital. Such investment
would be subject to the following conditions:
(i) It would be made under the Government approval route.
(ii) The 49% limit will subsume FDI and FII/FPI investment.
(iii) The investments so made would need to
comply with the relevant regulations of SEBI, such as the Issue of Capital
and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR) Regulations/ Substantial Acquisition of
Shares and Takeovers (SAST) Regulations, as well as other applicable rules
and regulations.
(iv) A Scheduled Operator’s Permit can be
granted only to a company:
a) that is registered and has its
principal place of business within India;
b) the Chairman and at least two-thirds
of the Directors of which are citizens of India; and
c) the substantial ownership and
effective control of which is vested in Indian nationals.
(v) All foreign nationals likely to be
associated with Indian scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services, as
a result of such investment shall be cleared from security view point before
deployment; and
(vi) All technical equipment that might be
imported into India as a result of such investment shall require clearance
from the relevant authority in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
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Note: (i) The FDI
limits/entry routes, mentioned at paragraph 9.3(1) and 9.3(2) above, are
applicable in the situation where there is no investment by foreign airlines.
(ii) The dispensation for
NRIs regarding FDI up to 100% will also continue in respect of the investment
regime specified at paragraph 9.3.1(c) (ii) above.
(iii) The policy mentioned
at 9.3.1(c) above is not applicable to M/s Air India Limited
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87. A. P. (DIR Series)
Circular No. 20 dated November 09, 2016
Issue of Pre-Paid Instruments to foreign tourists
This circular: –
1. Supersedes A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 16
dated November 11, 2016 regarding Withdrawal of the legal tender character of
the existing and any older series banknotes in the denominations of ? 500 and ?
1000.
2. Provides that foreign citizens (i.e. foreign
passport holders) are permitted to exchange foreign exchange for Indian
currency notes up to a limit of ? 5,000/- per week until December 15, 2016. The
foreign tourist will have to give, at the time of exchange, a self-declaration
that he / she has not availed of this facility during the week and also provide
a copy of their passport.
3. Provides that foreign tourists can continue to
avail facility of Pre-Paid Instruments as mentioned A. P. (DIR Series) Circular
No. 17 dated November 11, 2016.
88. A. P. (DIR Series)
Circular No. 22 dated December 16, 2016
Exchange facility to foreign citizens
This circular provides that the facility for
exchange of foreign exchange for Indian currency, available to foreign citizens
(i.e. foreign passport holders) whereby they were permitted to exchange foreign
exchange for Indian currency notes up to a limit of Rs. 5,000/- per week will
continue up to December 31, 2016. The foreign tourist will have to give, at the
time of exchange, a self-declaration that he / she has not availed of this
facility during the week and also provide a copy of their passport.
