RBI may clarify export reporting rules for freelancers, small service exporters

Amid confusion and concerns among service exporters, particularly individuals and small firms, over the Export Declaration Form (EDF), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association are expected to issue an FAQ soon outlining the correct procedure and required documents.

According to sources, this follows a meeting last week between exporters and industry bodies and the RBI, where service exporters raised their concerns. “For merchandise exporters, there are no issues as such with the EDF, but service exporters have been facing a lot of challenges in filing the forms and fulfilling the paperwork requirements by banks,” said a person familiar with the development.

As per the RBI’s new EDF mandate, effective October 1, 2026, all service exporters are required to file the form declaring the value of each export transaction within 30 days of the end of the month in which the invoice was issued.

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While individual service exporters are exempt from the requirements, on the ground level there continue to be concerns about banks asking individuals to file the forms and asking for documentation from before October 1, 2026, when the new rules come into force.

Concerns have been raised over the additional compliance burden to individuals such as freelancers, content creators and service providers as well as small exporters.

Earlier, RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain had said that the whole intent of bringing these new trade regulations has been to liberalise the handling of trade matters by authorised dealers, simplify the processes, and promote ease of doing business.

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“And service exports and imports have been included for reporting purposes now. But the individuals are not included with respect to the reporting requirements for the contracts of a personal nature," he had said.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had also said that individuals would be exempt from the reporting requirements.