The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for resident Indians limits forex outbound remittances under FEMA and RBI guidelines. This regulation authorises the external transfer of money up to USD 250,000 per calendar year for defined purposes.
It means that as per the RBI rules, one can transfer of money up to USD 250,000 per calendar year for defined purposes. However, fees per transaction differ depending on the bank.
Here is a comparison of the latest top banks’ charges for sending money abroad.
| Foreign Exchange Transactions | ||
| Remittance Outward* | Commission : | |
| Upto USD 500 or equivalent | Rs. 500 + applicable taxes | |
| Above USD 500 or equivalent | Rs. 1000 + applicable taxes | |
| Remittance Inward | No Charge | |
| Registration Charges | |
| Non Individual | Rs *1000 |
| Individual | Rs. 300* |
| Transaction Charges | |
| Up to USD 50,000 in a day | No Charges |
| Above USD 50,000 in a day | 0.0004% on the entire tra |
| Mode of Remittance | Commission/Charges for resident customers (account holder and non-account holder both) | Charges for NRI Customers (applicable for repatriation from NRO/NRE accounts only) |
| Foreign Currency Demand Draft issuance | INR 500 | INR 500 |
| Foreign Currency Demand Draft cancel/ reissue/ revalidate * | INR 500 | INR 500 |
| Wire Transfer initiated through ICICI Bank branch | INR 1000 | INR 500 |
| (all currencies other than USD to USA) | ||
| Wire Transfer initiated through ICICI Bank branch (USD in USA) | INR 1500 | INR 1000* |
| Wire Transfer initiated through ICICI Bank Internet Banking / iMobile Pay App | INR 750 | INR 500 |
| (all currencies other than USD to USA) | ||
| Wire Transfer initiated through ICICI Bank Internet Banking / iMobile Pay App (USD in USA) | INR 1000 | INR 1000* |
| INR Transfers to Nepal & Bhutan | INR 2.50 per 1,000 subject to a minimum of INR 75 | INR 2.50 per 1,000 subject to a minimum of INR 75 |
| * INR 500 applicable for overseas transfers from NRO Account |
DBS Bank outward remittance fee
| Currency To Country | Service Fee/Remittance Fee | GST |
| USD to the USA | Free | As applicable from time to time, will also be applied to your transaction |
| GBP to the United Kingdom | Free | |
| AUD to Australia | Free | |
| EUR to Eurozone | Free | |
| HKD to Hong Kong | Free | |
| SGD to Singapore | Free | |
| CAD to Canada | Free | |
| Any other currency to country combination | INR 500 |
IDFC FIRST Bank outward remittance fee
| Money Transfer Abroad | Resident Indian | NRI |
| Charges* | NIL | NIL |
| *This does not include charge levied by correspondent / intermediary banks. Charges for remittance levied by intermediary/beneficiary banks (overseas) may be applicable based on the respective banks’ tariff structure. | ||
| W.e.f. Oct 1, 2020, TCS will be collected by the Bank on remittances made under LRS as per prevailing Income tax guidelines | ||
SBI outward remittance fee
According to the SBI website, “a. Charges in Fx-Out vary from currency to currency given below which by default are charged to the remitter. If the cost is to be borne by beneficiary (bene-deducted type) then the charges are recovered at the beneficiary end by the correspondent and credited to our Nostro account. Another user-friendly feature of Fxout is that the correspondent will absorb charges levied by any intermediary bank (which may be necessitated in remittances to a country other than the country which owns the designated currency. For eg., USD remittances to destinations other than USA). Bank is providing transaction facility of different charge types which are Beneficiary, Remitter and Guaranteed, vary with currencies.
a) Beneficiary : All the bank charges including SBI and Correspondent Bank will be deducted from the remittance amount .
For example, the remitter wants to remit $1000 with charges to the beneficiary. If the conversion rate is RS.60, then the remitter has to pay INR 60000(1000 * 60) plus service tax plus USD11 (SBI + Correspondent Bank charges) as applicable. If bank charges are USD 11, the beneficiary’s bank will receive USD 989 (1000-11) for credit to the account of the beneficiary. However, the beneficiary’s bank may charge some amount from the proceeds depending upon the arrangement with beneficiary. Also, additional charges may be debited, if any intermediary bank is involved. (The bank in chain between Our US correspondent bank and the beneficiary bank).
b) Remitter : All the bank charges have to be borne by the remitter only.
In the above example the remitter has to pay INR 60660 ((USD 1000 + USD 11) * 60) plus service tax. The beneficiary’s bank will receive USD 1000 for credit to the account of the beneficiary. However, the beneficiary’s bank may charge some amount from the proceeds depending upon the arrangement with beneficiary. Also, additional charges may be debited, if any intermediary bank is involved. (The bank in chain between Our US correspondent bank and the beneficiary bank).
c) Guaranteed: All the bank charges have to be borne by the remitter only. This option will be costlier as this guarantees the full remittance, without any deduction at any point, to the beneficiary bank (Not to the beneficiary account) . This option is available only in three currencies i.e. USD, EUR and GBP.
| Charges | USD | GBP | EUR | AUD | CAD | SGD | NZD |
| Branch Commission | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Correspondent Bank Charge for Remitter | 0.9 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 10 | 5 |
| Charges for Guaranteed Option | 5.4 | 12 | 15 | — | — | — | — |
What are the available locations for outward remittance?
According to the SBI website, “Available at more than 200 countries. Remittance in forex to Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Mauritius is restricted under RBI/ FEMA regulations and hence not available for remittance under the aforesaid scheme.”
Regulations / Rules
Limit of USD 2,50,000* or it’s equivalent per financial year is applicable for the below mentioned purposes of travel:
- Private Visit (Leisure Travel)
- Employment
- Accompanying patient abroad
- Business Travel from Individual/ Proprietorship account
- Education
- Emigration
- Medical Treatment/ Person who has fallen sick after going abroad
*The overall limit available for an individual, under Liberalised Remittance Scheme for Resident Individuals (LRS) is USD 2,50,000 per financial year and the other limits as per Schedule III pertaining to travel, business, medical, education, immigration, etc have been subsumed under the LRS limit (within the overall limit of USD 2,50,000 per financial year). Hence the limit is the combined limit available for various purposes and products.
Please note that any remittance exceeding USD 2,50,000 should be as per RBI guidelines.
