'Return of advance to foreign buyer after 12 months requires RBI nod'

Therefore, please send a suitable request to RBI, through your bank, explaining the reasons for the failure to export and the delay in sending back the advance within one year.

We had received some advance from our buyer. Due to certain interpretations regarding the specifications of the goods that surfaced later and consequent disagreements regarding the price and protracted negotiations, we could not ship the goods within 12 months from the date of receipt of advance. Now, we have agreed to return the advance to the party. Our bank says that RBI approval is required. What is the correct position?

What the bank says is correct. Para C.2 of RBI master Direction no.16/2015-16 dated January 1, 2016 (as amended) says that in the event of the exporter’s inability to make