Reporting of Foreign Investment through Firms

The Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new reporting form of foreign transactions vide its RBI/2017-18/194 dated A.P (DIR Series) Circular No.30 June 07, 2018 wherein they have integrated all the existing forms into one single structure known as Single Master Form which were earlier reported in the e-biz portal which was later discontinued by the RBI.

FIRMS Portal is an 24*7 hours online platform for reporting foreign investments in India providing a common platform for all reporting. The reporting through FIRMS has been divided into two phases:-

• The first phase is to create an Entity Master Form wherein the Indian Entities are required to authorize one person through the authority letter in accordance with the prescribed format given by the RBI under the User Manual for creation of Entity Master. The authorized person shall only be authorized to update the foreign investment details.

For creation of Entity Master Form following are the documents required to be attached:-

• In case of Indian Entities (Companies, LLPs etc.) Board Resolution in favor of the authorized person;
• PAN of the authorized person;
• Authorized Letter as per the prescribed format.

Following process is to be followed for creation of Entity Master:-

1. Login to https://firms.rbi.org.in 
2. Click on the Registration Form for New Entity User
3. A pop up box will appear showing Entity User Registration form
   
4. The user is now required to fill the field description in the Entity User Form;
5. Now the next step is to submit the said form with RBI where the RBI will ensure and verify the details;
6. When the user ID is created a pop message appears displaying “Record Saved Successfully”.

After the above procedure the authority letter is then verified by the RBI and if the same gets approved the user receives a password on its registered email address.

This password can be later on changed by the user after successful login.

In case the user does not receive any mail notification for approval/rejection of the registration within the next 48 hrs, he/she may contact by e-mail.

The Entity Master is the Master data of the reporting entity depicting the total foreign investment received by the Entity throughout its life time.

• The second phase it to create the Business User which permits the user to report the transaction of foreign investment received at a time. Here, the user files various forms depending upon its criteria like FCGPR, FCTRS, Form DI etc. The effect of this reporting can be seen on the Entity Master.

For creation of Business User following are the documents required to be attached:-

• Authorization Letter as per the format prescribed;
• KYC of the non- resident investor;
• Details of the Banking Branch

Following process is to be followed for creation of Business User:-

• Login to https://firms.rbi.org.in 
• Click on the Registration Form for Business User Form
• Fill the details in the pop up appearing showing the Business User Registration Form;
  
  
• Click on the Submit button when complete details have been entered. In case if any error is displayed, rectify the same and then click on the Submit button.
• When the documents are submitted a pop message appears displaying “Record Saved Successfully”.

Thereafter the RBI through its Authorized Dealer Bank reviews the documents as submitted and the approval or rejection of the same is communicated via e-mail.