Indian service exporters: realisation deadlines, inward remittance records and the GST LUT

A Pune SaaS company invoices a Seattle client $24,000 a month. Each payment lands in its Indian bank, which issues an electronic inward remittance record. Each invoice is issued under the company's GST Letter of Undertaking, without IGST. And each receivable has a deadline: the RBI's realisation period, which changed twice between late 2025 and late 2026.

The realisation rule

Under FEMA and the RBI's export regulations, Indian exporters must realise and repatriate the full value of exports within a set period: from the date of shipment for goods, and from the invoice date for services.

• In November 2025 the RBI extended the period from nine to fifteen months.
• In 2026 the RBI issued new Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) regulations, which revised the framework again.

Commentaries disagree about what the 2026 changes did to the period, so read the current RBI notification or ask your AD bank before relying on any figure. Overdue receivables are reported by banks, and non-realisation is a contravention.

Inward remittance records

For each export receipt, the bank issues a Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate or Advice (FIRC or FIRA), increasingly as an electronic e-FIRA or e-BRC. These prove the money came from abroad as export proceeds. Keep them: they support GST zero-rating, income tax and any audit.

Make sure each receipt carries the right purpose code for your service, so the bank classifies it correctly.

GST: the LUT

Exports of services are zero-rated supplies under GST. With a Letter of Undertaking filed on the GST portal for the financial year, you export without paying IGST and without waiting for a refund. File it before the first export invoice of each year.

EEFC accounts

Exporters can hold part of their foreign currency proceeds in an Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency (EEFC) account in India, avoiding conversion until they need rupees or need to pay foreign costs.

Paying into India: the local rail

Source: NPCI: UPI. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

Rivet opens business accounts for registered companies after verification. An India-registered company must realise and repatriate export proceeds to India under FEMA, so it should not hold them abroad outside what the rules allow; check with your AD bank. Many Indian founders also run companies registered abroad, such as a US LLC, which follow that country's rules and can use a Rivet business account with US account details on every plan. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.

See also INR business payments.