Trade Notice No.– 20/2026-27
Dated: 12th August, 2026
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, has issued Trade Notice No. 20/2026-27, inviting comments and suggestions from exporters, banks, and trade bodies on a Draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for reporting remittances that come in through NBFC Factors.
What Is This About
When exporters use factoring companies (NBFC Factors) to get paid early for their invoices, the money eventually reaches the exporter’s bank from the factor, not directly from the overseas buyer.
This can create confusion when banks try to match that incoming payment to the right export bill for generating an eBRC (Electronic Bank Realisation Certificate), a document exporters need to claim benefits and close their export transactions.
To fix this, DGFT has prepared a draft SOP that tells NBFC Factors and banks exactly how to tag and report these payments correctly.
Key Points
- Why this matters: eBRCs are essential for exporters to avail of export incentives and complete compliance. Wrongly recorded remittances can delay or complicate this process.
- What the draft SOP proposes:
- When an NBFC Factor sends a foreign currency payment to a bank, it must use a specific standard message tag (a code so banks recognise it’s factoring money, not a direct trade payment).
- When a factor pays out in Indian Rupees instead of foreign currency, banks won’t get this same message; customers in that situation should approach the factor directly, not the bank, for related queries.
- Factoring companies must follow the process carefully to keep these transactions clearly identifiable.
- Better visibility for exporters: Once this system is in place, exporters will be able to see these factor-routed payments on the DGFT portal and match them to their invoices or shipping bills themselves, making self-certification of eBRCs faster and easier.
- A related regulatory update: RBI has also allowed a category of institutions called “AD Category-II” (which can include non-bank entities) to handle foreign trade transactions up to ₹25 lakh per transaction. Once the RBI licenses such entities, they too will be able to help with this reconciliation process on the DGFT system.
- How to respond: Exporters, banks, NBFC Factors, and industry bodies can send their comments and suggestions on the draft SOP within 30 days of this notice, by emailing ebrc-dgft@gov.in, with the subject line “Comments on Draft SOP for reporting of IRMs pertaining to NBFC Factors.”
Conclusion
This trade notice is a heads-up and consultation step, not a final rule yet. DGFT wants industry feedback before locking in a clear, standard way for banks and factoring companies to report remittances, so that exporters using invoice factoring can get their eBRCs certified smoothly and without unnecessary back-and-forth.
To view the DGFT trade notice, click here.
You may contact professional DGFT consultants for better assistance and to enhance your trade experience.
