Authorized dealers may release foreign exchange upto USD 100,000 or its equivalent to resident Indians for medical treatment abroad on self declaration basis of essential details, without insisting on any estimate from a hospital/doctor in India/abroad. A person visiting abroad for medical treatment can obtain foreign exchange exceeding the above limit, provided the request is supported by an estimate from a hospital/doctor in India/abroad. This exchange is to meet the expenses involved in treatment and in addition to the amount referred to in paragraph 1 above.

Ans: Bank-wise list of IFSCs is available with all the bank-branches participating in NEFT scheme. List of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT and their IFSCs is also available on the website of RBI at /en/web/rbi/-/list-of-neft-enabled-bank-branches-bank-wise-indian-financial-system-code-updated-as-on-june-30-2023-2009-1. All member banks have also been advised to print the IFSC of the branch on cheques issued to their customers.

Application in the prescribed form (as given in Part I: Annex-I of the FED Master Direction No.18/2015-16 on Reporting under FEMA 1999), along with the required documents should be submitted to the respective Regional Office of the Foreign Exchange Department of the Reserve Bank under whose jurisdiction the registered office of the applicant company falls.

Ans. A person coming into India from abroad can bring with him foreign exchange without any limit. However, if the aggregate value of the foreign exchange in the form of currency notes, bank notes or travellers cheques brought in exceeds USD 10,000 or its equivalent and/or the value of foreign currency alone exceeds USD 5,000 or its equivalent, it should be declared to the Customs Authorities at the Airport in the Currency Declaration Form (CDF), on arrival in India.

Answer: RBI approval is required if:

(i) Remittance is in excess of USD 1,000,000 (US Dollar One million only) per financial year:

1. on account of legacy, bequest or inheritance to a citizen of foreign state, resident outside India; and
2. by NRIs/ PIOs out of the balances held in NRO accounts/ sale proceeds of assets/ the assets acquired by way of inheritance/ legacy.

(ii) Hardship will be caused to a person if remittance from India is not made to such a person.

In case of loss of original token, on a specific request and on payment of prescribed fees, the receipted challan is issued.

An aggregator or facilitator means a Scheduled Bank or Primary Dealer or Specified Stock Exchange permitted to aggregate the bids received from the investors and submit a single bid in the non-competitive segment of the primary auction.

CTS enables fast and cheap realisation of funds to customers as compared to traditional mechanisms. Under grid-based CTS clearing, all cheques drawn on bank branches falling within in the grid jurisdiction are treated and cleared as local cheques. No outstation cheque collection charges to be levied if the collecting bank and the paying bank are located within the jurisdiction of the same CTS grid even though they are located in different cities.

CTS also benefits issuers of cheques. The Corporates if needed can be provided with images of cheques by their bankers for internal requirements, if any.

Ans : The User intending to effect payments through ECS Credit has to submit details of the beneficiaries (like name, bank / branch / account number of the beneficiary, MICR code of the destination bank branch, etc.), date on which credit is to be afforded to the beneficiaries, etc., in a specified format (called the input file) through its sponsor bank to one of the ECS Centres where it is registered as a User.

The bank managing the ECS Centre then debits the account of the sponsor bank on the scheduled settlement day and credits the accounts of the destination banks, for onward credit to the accounts of the ultimate beneficiaries with the destination bank branches.

Further details about the ECS Credit scheme are contained in the Procedural Guidelines and available on the website of Reserve Bank of India at http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/ECSUserView.aspx?Id=1

The Banking Ombudsman can receive and consider any complaint relating to the following deficiency in banking services:non-payment or inordinate delay in the payment or collection of cheques, drafts, bills etc.;non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of small denomination notes tendered for any purpose, and for charging of commission in respect thereof;non-acceptance, without sufficient cause, of coins tendered and for charging of commission in respect thereof;non-payment or delay in payment of inward remittances ;failure to issue or delay in issue of drafts, pay orders or bankers’ cheques;non-adherence to prescribed working hours ;failure to provide or delay in providing a banking facility (other than loans and advances) promised in writing by a bank or its direct selling agents;delays, non-credit of proceeds to parties' accounts, non-payment of deposit or non-observance of the Reserve Bank directives, if any, applicable to rate of interest on deposits in any savings, current or other account maintained with a bank ;complaints from Non-Resident Indians having accounts in India in relation to their remittances from abroad, deposits and other bank related matters;refusal to open deposit accounts without any valid reason for refusal;levying of charges without adequate prior notice to the customer;Non-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank on ATM / Debit Card and Prepaid Card operations in India by the bank or its subsidiariesNon-adherence by the bank or its subsidiaries to the instructions of Reserve Bank on credit card operationsNon-adherence to the instructions of Reserve Bank with regard to Mobile Banking / Electronic Banking service in India by the bankNon-disbursement or delay in disbursement of pension (to the extent the grievance can be attributed to the action on the part of the bank concerned, but not with regard to its employees);Refusal to accept or delay in accepting payment towards taxes, as required by Reserve Bank/Government;Refusal to issue or delay in issuing, or failure to service or delay in servicing or redemption of Government securities;Forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason;Refusal to close or delay in closing the accounts;Non-adherence to the fair practices code as adopted by the bank;Non-adherence to the provisions of the Code of Bank's Commitments to Customers issued by Banking Codes and Standards Board of India and as adopted by the bank ;Non-observance of Reserve Bank guidelines on engagement of recovery agents by banks;Non-adherence to Reserve Bank guidelines on para-banking activities like sale of insurance / mutual fund /other third party investment products by banksAny other matter relating to the violation of the directives issued by the Reserve Bank in relation to banking or other services.A customer can also lodge a complaint on the following grounds of deficiency in service with respect to loans and advancesnon-observance of Reserve Bank Directives on interest rates;delays in sanction, disbursement or non-observance of prescribed time schedule for disposal of loan applications;non-acceptance of application for loans without furnishing valid reasons to the applicant; andnon-adherence to the provisions of the fair practices code for lenders as adopted by the bank or Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers, as the case may be;non-observance of any other direction or instruction of the Reserve Bank as may be specified by the Reserve Bank for this purpose from time to time.The Banking Ombudsman may also deal with such other matter as may be specified by the Reserve Bank from time to time.