India's RBI allows residents to exchange Indian Rupee notes at airport departure halls in duty-free zones
Airport forex operators can serve departing residents beyond immigration
Change
India's RBI amended its Master Direction on Money Changing Activities to permit residents, alongside non-residents, to exchange Indian Rupee notes at foreign-exchange counters located in departure halls beyond the Immigration or Customs desks at international airports.
Why it matters
Foreign-exchange counters in airport departure halls must now accept resident customers and adjust front-line eligibility checks. Operations and compliance teams must align procedures and recordkeeping to reflect the expanded customer base.
Implications
- — Authorised Persons (banks and money changers licensed by India's RBI to deal in foreign exchange) operating foreign-exchange counters at international airports (now required to serve resident departing customers) — must immediately update counter eligibility rules, customer-facing signage, and staff instructions to accept resident customers in departure halls — failure to act risks operating in breach of the amended Master Direction and potential regulatory enforcement under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
- — Compliance teams at Authorised Persons operating airport forex counters (now exposed to resident-customer transactions) — must now revise Know Your Customer (KYC) and transaction-recordkeeping procedures to capture resident-customer exchanges immediately — failure to update procedures will expose the firm to reporting breaches and penalties.
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