# RBI's new export-import regulations took effect on 1 October 2026: what changed for exporters

> From 1 October 2026 a new set of RBI regulations governs export payments: nine months to bring the money home on goods, a fixed deadline for services declarations, and a rule for payments left unrealised.

- Source: https://www.lexiplatform.com/articles/money-home/rbi-export-import-regulations-1-october-2026-what-changed
- Published: 2026-10-08  ·  Last updated: 2026-10-08
- Next scheduled review: 2026-12-15
- Reviewed by: Dipender Bhamrah
- Publisher: LEXI Platform Pvt. Ltd.

## What changed for exporters on 1 October 2026 under RBI's new export-import regulations?

The Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 replaced the 2015 export regulations on 1 October 2026. Goods exports must be realised within nine months of shipment, or twelve if invoiced or settled in rupees. Services need a declaration within 30 days of the invoice month's end.

The new Regulations came into force on 1 October 2026 (regulation 1(2)). They
replace the 2015 export regulations, "except in respect of things done or omitted to be done before such supersession". The text does not say which period governs a shipment made before 1 October, so if you have one still unpaid, ask your bank which period it applies.

Most of the attention goes to one number, and it moved before the Regulations
started. The January 2026 text gave exporters fifteen months to bring goods
payments home, and eighteen where the sale was in rupees. An amendment dated 22
September 2026 (notification FEMA 23(R)/(1)/2026-RB, published in the Gazette on
24 September) replaced those with nine and twelve. Anyone who read the January
notification and planned around fifteen months is working from the wrong figure.

## The realisation clock

Regulation 5(1) sets how long you have to receive the full export value and
bring it into India. The start point depends on what you sold.

- **Goods:** nine months from the date of shipment.
- **Goods sent to a warehouse outside India:** nine months from the date the goods
  are sold out of that warehouse.
- **Services, software included:** nine months from the date of the invoice.
- **Project exports:** as per the payment terms of the contract.

If the export is invoiced or settled in rupees, the period is twelve months
instead, counted from the same start points. The text says "invoiced or/and
settled", so either one is enough.

Your Authorised Dealer can extend the period if you ask and give
reasons it accepts. Regulation 5 states no cap on the extension. The
bank must also put systems in place to follow up with you on realising proceeds
within the period (regulation 5(2)).

## When the full amount will not arrive

Buyers deduct, short-pay and sometimes do not pay. Regulation 6 lets your bank
agree to a lower export value, with reasons, covering both a short payment and no
payment at all.

For an export of up to ₹10 lakh per shipping bill (goods) or per invoice
(services), your own declaration is enough. Above that, the bank has to be
satisfied by the reasons you give.

Regulation 4 has a matching relief for closing the entry in
EDPMS, the system that tracks whether the money for each shipment
came back. Where the shipping bill or invoice is up to ₹10 lakh,
the entry can be closed on your declaration that payment was realised in full or
otherwise. You may also give that declaration to your bank quarterly, for bulk
closure. The mechanics of an entry that stays open are in
[why a shipping bill stays open in EDPMS](https://www.lexiplatform.com/articles/money-home/shipping-bill-still-open-in-edpms).

## Services: the Export Declaration Form

An exporter of goods files the Export Declaration Form (EDF) as part of the
shipping bill at an electronic port (regulation 3(1)). Services exporters file it themselves.

Under regulation 3(2), you must furnish the EDF within 30 days from the end of
the month in which you raised the invoice. Four details sit around that deadline.

- If you exported to several recipients in a month, one EDF can cover them all.
- For services other than software, you may submit the EDF on or before the day
  payment is received.
- Your bank can extend the period if you ask and give reasons.
- Software is treated as a service for these Regulations (regulation 2(1)).

An invoice raised on 12 October 2026 falls in a month that ends on 31 October, so
30 days from the end of that month is 30 November. Work out the date once per
month, from the month-end, not from the invoice day.

## A year unpaid changes what you can ship

Regulation 13 is the sharpest consequence in the text. If export proceeds stay
unrealised for more than one year beyond the due date, or beyond any extension
your bank allowed, you can export further only against full advance payment or
an irrevocable letter of credit.

The year is counted from the due date of realisation, not from shipment. An
extension from your bank moves that due date, so it also delays the point where
regulation 13 applies.

Exporters already on the Caution List on 30 September 2026 are covered by a
transitional proviso. They continue to be governed by the Reserve Bank's order
under the 2015 regulations until they are removed from the list.

The Regulations also say, in regulation 19(3), that a bank shall not charge an
exporter any charge or penalty for a regulatory delay or violation by the
exporter. Read it as a limit on what the bank may levy, not as a waiver of the
deadlines above.

## Imports, briefly

If you also import, regulation 9 puts your bank in charge of following up on
payment within the period in the underlying contract. It may extend that period
on your request, with reasons.

## What to do on Monday

1. **Find the date nine months out for every goods shipment from 1 October.** Use
   nine months from shipment, not fifteen. For rupee-settled sales use twelve.
   For a shipment made earlier and still unpaid, ask your bank which period applies.
2. **List services invoices from the last two months** and check each has an EDF
   filed, or a date by which it must be.
3. **Ask your bank for its published policy.** Regulation 19(4) requires an
   Authorised Dealer to disclose its policy and the main features of its
   procedure on its website, and regulation 19(1)(b) requires that policy to
   cover extending the realisation period. Read what documents and charges it asks
   for before you need an extension.
4. **Request extensions early, with reasons, in writing.** The Regulations let
   the bank allow one only if it is satisfied by the reasons given.
5. **Flag anything close to one year past its due date.** That is the point where
   regulation 13 restricts your next exports.
6. **Gather your small shipments.** EDPMS entries up to ₹10 lakh (or its foreign-currency
   equivalent) can be closed on your declaration, singly or as a quarterly bulk
   declaration (regulation 4). A reduction in realised value of that size is a
   separate per-case declaration (regulation 6).

## Where to check

The full text, with the footnotes that record the 22 September substitution, is
on the Reserve Bank's site (link below). Read regulations 3, 5, 6 and 13 in
full before you rely on this summary for a specific shipment.

## Sources

- [RBI Notification FEMA 23(R)/2026-RB, 13 January 2026 (amended up to 22 September 2026) — Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=13277&Mode=0) — checked 2026-10-08