Remittance of Assets Regulations, 2016

What it does

The Remittance of Assets Regulations, 2016 are made under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. They regulate the sending abroad of assets held in India by persons who are not resident in India. The assets include balances in a Non-Resident (Ordinary) Rupee account, which is a rupee account held by a non-resident for money earned or received in India, and the sale proceeds of assets such as immovable property. The regulations say when an authorised dealer bank may allow the remittance, up to what limit, and on what documents.

The Reserve Bank's Master Direction No. 13/2015-16 on remittance of assets, which the site's note reads as updated to 29 June 2026, is the working compilation. For a seller, the regulations are the second of two routes for the money from a sale of property, the first being repatriation under the property direction.

Who it binds

They bind persons resident outside India who seek to remit such assets, among them non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin, a term that includes an overseas citizen of India cardholder. They bind authorised dealer banks, which apply the limits and collect the documents. The remittance is subject to payment of the taxes that apply, so the regulations also tie in the tax compliance of the person who remits.

What has changed, and when

• The regulations were made in 2016. The detailed rules are compiled in the Master Direction.
• On the site's reading, the Master Direction was updated to 29 June 2026, and the words "including transfer to NRE and SNRR accounts" were inserted in paragraph 3.2 by a Reserve Bank notification of 18 June 2026. SNRR is the special non-resident rupee account.
• The tax regime changed from 1 April 2026 when the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961. The exchange control and the tax questions are separate and both have to be satisfied.

What turns on it in practice

Under paragraph 3.2 of the Master Direction, an authorised dealer may allow an NRI or a person of Indian origin to remit, on documentary evidence, up to USD one million per financial year out of balances in an NRO account or sale proceeds of assets. Paragraph 4.1 requires the Reserve Bank's prior approval above USD 1 million a year, and paragraph 5 makes remittances subject to payment of applicable taxes.

The limit is for each financial year, which is why timing matters. A sum larger than the limit can only go across more than one financial year, and the record of what has already been remitted in a year matters, since the limit is a cumulative one. The facility covers balances as well as sale proceeds, so the sum is shared.

The site's note on inheriting property in India from abroad describes the same limit from the heir's side: inherited assets and their sale proceeds may be remitted up to USD 1 million a financial year. Its note on an NRI or OCI selling a flat and sending the money abroad shows how this facility fits with repatriation under the property direction and with the buyer's withholding. The route that applies depends on how the property was acquired, which is why the purchase record matters as much as the sale.