Master Direction No. 13/2015-16, Remittance of Assets

What it does

Master Direction No. 13/2015-16 compiles the Reserve Bank of India's rules on the remittance of assets under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, in a single text for authorised dealer banks. An authorised dealer is a bank licensed to deal in foreign exchange. The Direction tells such a bank what it may allow a customer to remit abroad, on what evidence, and when it must refer the matter to the Reserve Bank.

The central facility is a general one. On documentary evidence, an authorised dealer may allow a non-resident Indian or a person of Indian origin, a term that includes an Overseas Citizen of India cardholder, to remit up to USD 1 million per financial year out of balances in a Non-Resident (Ordinary) Rupee account, the sale proceeds of assets, or assets acquired by inheritance. The Reserve Bank's prior approval is required above USD 1,000,000 a year. The remittance is subject to the payment of the applicable taxes. The site's references are to the Direction as updated to 29 June 2026.

Who it binds

Authorised dealer banks, which must apply the Direction, and the persons who ask them for a remittance: non-resident Indians, persons of Indian origin and, as the Direction provides, certain other persons resident outside India. A buyer or an executor is not bound by it directly, but a transaction that depends on money leaving India depends on the Direction being met.

What has changed, and when

The Direction is revised from time to time as the Reserve Bank amends the regulations behind it. It has been updated to 29 June 2026, and a transaction takes the version in force on its date. It is one of two directions that matter for a sale by a non-resident. The other, Master Direction No. 12/2015-16 on immovable property, decides what a non-resident may sell and to whom, and whether sale proceeds can be repatriated as such. This Direction is the route for property that cannot be repatriated under that one, such as property held while resident in India or inherited from a resident, and it is the general route for balances.

The tax side changed on 1 April 2026. The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on that date and repealed the Income-tax Act, 1961, so a sale in the tax year 2026-27 is governed by the new Act, with the buyer's duty to withhold tax in section 393(2) and the charge on a long-term gain at 12.5 per cent in section 197.

What turns on it in practice

For an NRI or OCI who has sold a flat in India, the Direction decides how much of the money can go abroad in a year and what documents the bank will ask for. Proceeds of a sale deposited in an NRO account are within the annual limit, so a sale of more than USD 1 million of property cannot be fully remitted in one year without the Reserve Bank's approval. Because the remittance is subject to payment of the applicable taxes, the buyer's withholding and the seller's tax position have to be dealt with alongside it. The requirement of the same authorised dealer and the undertaking on account balances are set out in the site's note on selling property in India and remitting abroad.

The same limit applies to money received by inheritance. An heir living abroad can inherit property in India, but the money leaves only up to the annual limit without the Reserve Bank's approval, a point the site's note on inheriting property from abroad deals with. Planning a sale or an estate with that limit in mind affects whether the proceeds are brought out in one year or several.