SRVA
Getting paid in rupees: SRVA trade settlement for exporters
The Special Rupee Vostro Account from the exporter's side. Invoicing in INR, how the exchange rate is set without a direct quote, and how EDPMS and eBRC treat a rupee realisation.
By Aaryan Kakani · · 13 min read
How does an SRVA payment actually reach your account?
From the exporter's side the chain is short. Your overseas buyer pays its own bank in its own local currency. That bank (or its correspondent) holds a Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) with an Indian AD Category-I bank. The Indian AD bank debits that SRVA and credits your account in rupees. There is no SWIFT foreign-currency remittance into India and no currency conversion on the Indian leg at all, so no exchange margin is shaved off your realisation on the way in.
The arrangement was established by RBI/2022-2023/90, A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 10, dated July 11, 2022. RBI's own framing of the benefit is direct: settlement in Indian rupees reduces exchange-rate risk for Indian exporters and importers (SRVA FAQ Q15).
The settlement chain, exporter's view
- :
Who is allowed to hold an SRVA
An SRVA is opened by a foreign bank through an Indian AD bank. RBI's FAQ confirms three structural points an exporter occasionally needs when tracing a route:
| Question | Position | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Can an Indian branch of a foreign bank open an SRVA for its own head office or other foreign branches? | Yes, provided the Indian branch is itself an AD bank | SRVA FAQ Q2 |
| Can one foreign bank hold SRVAs with more than one Indian AD bank? | Yes, multiple SRVAs with different AD banks are permitted | SRVA FAQ Q4 |
| Can one Indian AD bank open SRVAs for several banks from the same country? | Yes, multiple SRVAs for different banks of the same country are permitted | SRVA FAQ Q5 |
The practical consequence for you: there is rarely one single route. If the first Indian AD bank you approach is unhelpful, another bank may hold an SRVA for a different bank in the same country, and your buyer may be able to route through that relationship instead.
How is an SRVA different from an ordinary vostro account?
This distinction is not academic. It is the single most common reason a rupee-settlement plan collapses at the bank desk: the buyer's bank has "a rupee vostro account in India" and everyone assumes that is enough. It is not.
RBI describes the SRVA as an additional arrangement for invoicing and settlement in Indian rupees, sitting on top of the existing system, and distinct from a normal Rupee Vostro Account maintained under the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016. The defining difference RBI itself names is that SRVA balances can be deployed into permissible investments (SRVA FAQ Q1).
| Feature | Ordinary Rupee Vostro Account | Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA) |
|---|---|---|
| Governing framework | Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2016 | A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 10 of 11 July 2022, opened through the approval route via an AD bank |
| Purpose | General correspondent-banking rupee settlement | Dedicated arrangement for invoicing and settling international trade in INR |
| Investment of balances | Not the design of the account | G-secs, T-Bills and any permissible current or capital account transaction under FEMA (FAQ Q10) |
| Convertibility between the two | Not permitted. An existing rupee vostro cannot be converted into or used as an SRVA (FAQ Q3) | |
| Funding sources | Correspondent-banking flows | Trade proceeds, inward remittances, transfers from other repatriable INR accounts (RVA, SNRR), and proceeds of any permissible FEMA current or capital transaction (FAQ Q18) |
| Repatriability of balances | As provided under the Deposit Regulations | Freely repatriable (FAQ Q8) |
Why the funding scope matters to you commercially
An SRVA is not a narrow trade-only conduit. RBI confirms it can be funded by inward remittances, by transfers from other repatriable INR accounts such as a Rupee Vostro Account or an SNRR account, and by the proceeds of any permissible current or capital account transaction under FEMA (FAQ Q18). Settlement between two persons resident outside India through repatriable INR accounts including SRVA and SNRR is allowed (FAQ Q17), and merchanting trade is settleable through an SRVA (FAQ Q19).
Read that as a negotiating fact rather than a technicality: a buyer whose bank has a well-funded SRVA has real, legitimate uses for a rupee balance. That is precisely what makes an INR invoice acceptable to the counterparty instead of a favour they are doing you.
What exchange rate applies when there is no direct rupee quote?
RBI's answer is short and, for a treasury person, slightly unnerving: the exchange rate between the rupee and the partner country's currency is market determined (SRVA FAQ Q6). The circular does not publish a rate, does not nominate a fixing source, and does not oblige either bank to use a particular reference.
Where no direct quote exists between the rupee and the buyer's currency (the FAQ's own worked example is LKR/INR) the rate is derived as a cross-currency rate through a freely convertible major currency such as USD, EUR or JPY during the transition phase (FAQ Q7, and the founding circular).
| Situation | How the rate is arrived at | Who carries the movement |
|---|---|---|
| A direct market quote exists for the pair | Market determined directly between INR and the partner currency (FAQ Q6) | The buyer, when the invoice is denominated in INR |
| No direct quote exists (FAQ example: LKR/INR) | Cross rate derived through a freely convertible major (USD, EUR or JPY) in the transition phase (FAQ Q7) | The buyer and its bank, on their side of the border |
| Any INR-leg service the Indian desk quotes you | Published card rate, which banks must display along with the card-rate threshold and publication time (FEDAI General Guidelines, FEDAI Rules 10th Edition) | You. So demand the published card rate up to the threshold |
Where the risk actually sits
If the export invoice is denominated in INR, the conversion out of the buyer's currency happens on the buyer's side of the transaction. The exchange-rate risk therefore sits with the buyer and their bank, not with you. That is exactly the benefit RBI describes in FAQ Q15 (reduced exchange-rate risk for Indian exporters and importers) and it is worth stating plainly because it changes the shape of your exposure rather than removing it.
What remains is a pricing question at contract time, not a realisation-day rate question. Your rupee realisation will equal your rupee invoice. Whether that rupee number was a good price depends on the cross rate you agreed when you set it.
How do you invoice in rupees and what documents change?
Less changes than exporters expect. The founding circular provides that exports and imports under the arrangement may be denominated and invoiced in Indian rupees . So the sales contract, the commercial invoice and the shipping bill all carry rupee values instead of foreign-currency values. Field layout, mandatory particulars and Incoterms treatment are unaffected. See export invoice fields and terms .
Documentation is otherwise unchanged. The circular provides that standard FEMA export documentation applies, and that the terms of a letter of credit and other trade documents are decided between the partner banks under UCPDC and Incoterms. The ordinary LC discipline described in our letter of credit guide continues to apply.
| Element | What the circular provides | What you do differently |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice currency | Exports and imports may be denominated and invoiced in INR | Issue the commercial invoice and contract in rupees; file the shipping bill in rupees |
| Export documentation | Standard FEMA export documentation applies | Nothing. Your existing document set is unchanged in composition |
| Letter of credit and trade documents | Terms decided between the partner banks under UCPDC and Incoterms | Confirm early which two banks are the partner banks, since they set the LC terms between them |
| Advance against exports | Permitted in INR; the AD bank must first apply available SRVA funds to already-executed export obligations and must verify the advance claim with the correspondent bank | Expect a queue. Shipped consignments are served from the same rupee balance before your advance |
| Set-off of receivables against payables | Permitted against the same overseas counterparty, with net settlement through the SRVA | Ask the desk for the set-off charge before you rely on it (see the charges table below) |
| Bank guarantees | Permitted for these trades per FEMA Notification No. 8 and the Master Directions on Guarantees | Nothing new. Guarantee issuance follows the same master directions as any other trade |
What happens to EDPMS and your eBRC when payment lands in rupees?
This is the part of SRVA settlement where exporters most often receive confident answers that are not sourced to anything. So it is worth separating what is verified from what is not.
| Point | Status | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Who reports the cross-border transaction | Verified: the AD bank in India maintaining the SRVA. Not the exporter, not the correspondent bank | SRVA FAQ Q14 |
| Reporting standard applied | Verified: reporting follows extant FEMA guidelines | Founding circular |
| EDPMS, eBRC, GR / PP / SOFTEX named in the circular | Not named anywhere in the circular or the FAQ | Circular and FAQ text |
| Shipping-bill knock-off against the rupee realisation | Still required. And the entity that can make it happen is the AD bank holding the SRVA | Follows from FAQ Q14 read with extant FEMA reporting |
| DGFT-side eBRC-in-INR mechanics | Not covered by the RBI circular or FAQ; confirm with the AD bank and DGFT | Absence of any provision on point |
The rest of your realisation discipline is unchanged. The FEMA export realisation period remains nine months from the date of export for all exporters, including SEZ units, EOUs and Status Holders (RBI Master Direction 16/2015-16, para A.2(i)); the fifteen-month period applies only to goods exported to a warehouse outside India. Our EDPMS reporting guide , eBRC filing guide and FIRC and BRC guide cover the general process, and if a bill runs long there is a ready template in the export realisation pending letter .
Ask the buyer to name their bank, then email the Indian AD bank's SRVA desk (contact is in the directory) to confirm the correspondent relationship. An ordinary rupee vostro account cannot be used or converted (RBI FAQ Q3). </>), soThat: "You avoid the trap of a buyer who banks with an institution that has only a normal vostro, which cannot settle under this arrangement.", }, , , , ]} conclusion= />
Can your buyer's bank actually use the rupees it holds?
This section exists to answer the buyer's objection ("and what exactly do we do with a pile of rupees?") so that you can defend INR invoicing in the negotiation rather than concede it. The 2026 FAQ answers the 2022-era fear directly.
What SRVA balances can do, per RBI's own FAQ
- Freely repatriable. Balances in the Special Rupee Vostro Account may be repatriated (FAQ Q8).
- Income is repatriable too. Income generated from deployment of the balances is repatriable, subject to applicable regulatory guidelines and tax (FAQ Q9).
- Usable for any permissible transaction. Balances may be used for any permissible current and capital account transaction under FEMA, including FDI-type flows, projects, and investment in Government securities and Treasury Bills (FAQ Q10).
- No FPI licence needed for G-secs and T-Bills. The overseas bank does not require an FPI licence to invest SRVA balances in Treasury Bills or Government securities (FAQ Q13).
- Debt investment has a named framework (investment in debt instruments is governed by the Master Direction) RBI (Non-resident Investment in Debt Instruments) Directions, 2025, as amended (FAQ Q11).
- Hedgeable. Rupee exposure arising from these balances may be hedged as per applicable guidelines (FAQ Q12).
Which banks run SRVAs and what will the desk charge you?
RBI does not publish the list of arrangements itself. SRVA FAQ Q16 points to the SRVA Directory on the FEDAI website (fedai.org.in) as the official list. As harvested, the directory covers 36 countries (including Russia, the UAE, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) mapped to the Indian AD banks holding the Special Rupee Vostro Accounts, with trade-desk email contacts, and it links the RBI INR-settlement FAQs and FEDAI circular SPL 06-SRVA-2025.
Directory workflow
- 1 Look up the buyer's country Open the SRVA Directory on fedai.org.in and find the country entry. If the country is absent, rupee settlement under this arrangement is not available for that route today.
- 2 Identify the Indian AD banks holding the SRVAs The directory maps each country to the Indian AD banks that maintain Special Rupee Vostro Accounts for banks there. Note all of them, not just the first.
- 3 Email the listed trade desk The directory carries desk email contacts. Ask whether the buyer's named bank is a correspondent on their SRVA, and what they will require from you to process the realisation.
On pricing: SRVA settlement does not have a separate published tariff at most banks. What applies is each bank's ordinary trade schedule of charges. The verified examples below are drawn from published schedules and are illustrative of the heads you will see debited. They are not an SRVA-specific tariff.
| Bank | Charge head | Amount | Effective date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICICI Bank | Export bill realisation | 0.12%, min Rs 1,000, max Rs 10,000 | 1 Apr 2026 |
| ICICI Bank | Inward remittance (corporate) | 0.12%, min Rs 2,000, max Rs 10,000 | 1 Apr 2026 |
| ICICI Bank | Export-import set-off | 0.24%, min Rs 2,500, max Rs 25,000 | 1 Apr 2026 |
| Canara Bank | Per-bill realisation slabs; SRVA / PA Bill of Entry reconciliation charges apply mutatis mutandis | Rs 100 (bill up to Rs 1 lakh) rising to Rs 1,000 (bill over Rs 10 lakh) | 02.02.2026 |
A knitwear exporter has a Dhaka buyer whose bank's correspondent holds an SRVA with an Indian AD bank listed on the FEDAI SRVA Directory. They agree an INR price of Rs 41,50,000 for the consignment, with the contract stating that the BDT amount the buyer funds is derived as a cross rate through USD on the payment date (RBI FAQ Q7, since there is no direct BDT/INR market quote). </> } result= >
| Stage | What happens | Amount / basis |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Contract and invoice | Sales contract and commercial invoice denominated in INR (permitted by the July 11, 2022 circular) | Rs 41,50,000 |
| 2. Shipping bill | Filed in INR, matching the invoice value | Rs 41,50,000 |
| 3. Buyer funds | Buyer pays its bank in BDT; the correspondent's SRVA at the Indian AD bank is debited | BDT derived as a USD cross rate on the payment date |
| 4. Credit to exporter | AD bank credits the exporter in rupees. No currency conversion on the Indian leg, so no exchange margin | Rs 41,50,000 |
| 5. Bank charge | Export bill realisation charge on ICICI's published schedule of 0.12%, min Rs 1,000, max Rs 10,000 (w.e.f. 1 Apr 2026) | 0.12% x Rs 41,50,000 = Rs 4,980. Inside the min/max band, so Rs 4,980 is debited |
| 6. Timing | As a rupee export bill, the Normal Transit Period is 20 days (FEDAI Rule 2.3); overdue interest rules bite past NTP (Rule 2.2) | Day 20 diarised to chase the desk |
| 7. Compliance | Before shipping, the exporter obtained an email from the SRVA-holding AD bank confirming it will report the transaction and knock off the shipping bill (RBI FAQ Q14) | Written confirmation on file |
SRVA first-shipment checklist
Run this sequence once, before your first rupee-settled shipment. Subsequent shipments on the same route only need steps 5 to 10.
Before the first rupee-settled shipment
- Confirm the route exists. Check the FEDAI SRVA Directory that your buyer's country has an arrangement and note which Indian AD banks hold the SRVAs.
- Identify the buyer's bank. Ask which bank they use and whether that bank, or its correspondent, holds an SRVA. Remember an ordinary rupee vostro account will not do (FAQ Q3).
- Email the SRVA desk. Write to the AD bank's SRVA desk listed in the directory and confirm they will handle your realisation.
- Fix price and rate mechanism. Agree the INR price and write the rate-reference mechanism into the contract, using a cross rate via USD, EUR or JPY where there is no direct quote (FAQ Q7).
- Invoice and file in rupees. Issue the commercial invoice and file the shipping bill in INR.
- Plan for advances. If taking an advance, expect the AD bank to verify the claim with the correspondent bank and to apply available SRVA funds to already-executed exports first (founding circular).
- Get reporting in writing. Obtain written confirmation from the SRVA-holding AD bank on EDPMS knock-off and realisation-certificate issuance for the rupee credit (FAQ Q14).
- Diarise day 20. The Normal Transit Period for rupee bills is 20 days (FEDAI Rule 2.3); chase the desk past it.
- Ask about set-off. If you also import from the same counterparty, ask about set-off with net SRVA settlement and what it will be charged at.
- File the tariff schedule. Keep the bank's current schedule of charges for the SRVA leg so every debit can be matched to a published charge head.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get paid in Indian rupees for my exports instead of dollars?
Yes. Under the RBI arrangement established by RBI/2022-2023/90, A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 10 dated July 11, 2022, exports and imports may be denominated and invoiced in Indian rupees and settled through a Special Rupee Vostro Account that the buyer's bank maintains with an Indian AD Category-I bank. The buyer pays its own bank in local currency, the SRVA at the Indian AD bank is debited, and you are credited in rupees. No currency conversion happens on the Indian leg, which is why RBI describes the arrangement as reducing exchange-rate risk for Indian exporters and importers (SRVA FAQ Q15).
Will I still get an eBRC and EDPMS closure if my buyer pays in rupees through an SRVA?
The verified position is narrower than most exporters assume. RBI SRVA FAQ Q14 states that the AD bank in India maintaining the Special Rupee Vostro Account is responsible for reporting the cross-border transactions. Not the exporter and not the correspondent bank. The founding circular says reporting follows extant FEMA guidelines and does not name EDPMS, eBRC, GR, PP or SOFTEX anywhere. Your shipping bill still has to be knocked off against a realisation, and the entity that makes that happen is the AD bank holding the SRVA. Before your first rupee-settled shipment, get written confirmation from that bank's trade desk on how the SRVA credit will be reported against your shipping bill and that a realisation certificate will issue. DGFT-side eBRC-in-INR mechanics are not covered by the circular or FAQ and must be confirmed with the AD bank and DGFT.
What exchange rate is used when there is no direct rupee quote for my buyer's currency?
The exchange rate between the rupee and the partner country's currency is market determined (RBI SRVA FAQ Q6). Where no direct quote exists (the FAQ's own example is LKR/INR) the rate is derived as a cross-currency rate through a freely convertible major currency such as USD, EUR or JPY during the transition phase (FAQ Q7 and the founding circular). Because RBI leaves rate discovery to the market, fix the reference-rate mechanism in the sales contract: which cross rate, whose quote, and which day it is taken.
Can my buyer send an advance payment in INR through the SRVA?
Yes. The founding circular permits advance payment against exports in rupees, with a protective condition: before releasing an advance, the AD bank must first ensure that available funds in the Special Rupee Vostro Account are used for export obligations that have already been executed, and must verify the advance payment claim with the correspondent bank holding the SRVA. In practice that means an advance sits behind already-shipped consignments in the queue for the same rupee balance.
How do I find out which Indian banks have an SRVA for my buyer's country?
RBI SRVA FAQ Q16 points to the SRVA Directory published on the FEDAI website (fedai.org.in) as the official list of SRVA arrangements. As harvested, the directory covers 36 countries (including Russia, the UAE, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) mapped to the Indian AD banks holding the Special Rupee Vostro Accounts, with trade-desk email contacts, and it links the RBI INR-settlement FAQs and FEDAI circular SPL 06-SRVA-2025. Look up your buyer's country, note which Indian AD banks hold SRVAs for banks there, and email the listed desk.
Sources & citations
- [RBI/2022-2023/90, A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 10 dated July 11, 2022. International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees (INR)](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12358).
- [Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association of India (FEDAI). SRVA Directory, FEDAI Rules 10th Edition, and circular SPL 06-SRVA-2025](https://www.fedai.org.in/).
Update history
- First published.