Importer has to submit a list of documents for making import payments. One such documents was A1 Form except for import payment less than $ 5000. RBI with its circular dated 12 February 2015, has removed this requirement.

Impact on Importer

Hence forth, for import payments, importer giving request on his letter head with complete details will be acceptable to Bank.

In practise each banks in order to maintain standardization will come up with its own format in which details will be required to be submitted by the importer. Thus, Importer will have to keep a track for this format for each bank where he is banking with.

Extract from RBI Circular

To further liberalise and simplify the procedure, it has been decided to dispense with the requirement of submitting request in Form A-1 to the AD Category –I Banks for making payments towards imports into India. AD Category –I may however, need to obtain all the requisite details from the importers and satisfy itself about the bonafides of the transactions before effecting the remittance.

Reference

RBI Circular: Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 – Import of Goods into India: Dated: 12 February 2015