EEFC Accounts for Professionals

The Reserve Bank of India has now decided to permit individual professionals to keep up to 100 per cent of their foreign exchange earnings from consultancy and other services rendered to persons or bodies outside India, in their foreign exchange earners’ foreign currency (EEFC) account. The facility is permitted for the benefit and convenience of individual professionals, such as, scientists, professors of Indian universities/institutions, economists, lawyers, doctors, artists, architects, engineers, consultants, cost/chartered accountants, directors on boards of overseas companies, etc. This would enable the professionals to use the funds from these accounts to meet their foreign exchange requirements without any prior approval of the Reserve Bank.

Currently, residents in India are permitted to maintain exchange earner’ foreign currency (EEFC) accounts with banks in India, out of a portion of their earnings in foreign exchange. Exchange earners’ foreign currency accounts can be opened and maintained with any branch of a bank dealing in foreign exchange. Cheque facilities are also available for operations in the EEFC accounts.

The Reserve Bank has stated that applications from professionals for availing this facility, may be forwarded by the concerned bank branches to the regional offices of its exchange control department.

Alpana Killawala
General Manager