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Section47
The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999

Power to make regulations

In force From 01 Jun 2000 Act 42 of 1999 As on 18 Oct 2026

Act 42 of 1999 Ministry Finance Enacted 29 Dec 1999 In force 01 Jun 2000 Instruments 15

Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 deals with power to make regulations. The Reserve Bank may, by notification, make regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder. The Act came into force on 01 Jun 2000.

(1) The Reserve Bank may, by notification, make regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for,

1[(a) the permissible classes of capital account transactions involving debt instruments determined under sub-section (7) of section 6, the limits of admissibility of foreign exchange for such transactions, and the prohibition, restriction or regulation of such capital account transactions under section 6;]

(b) the manner and the form in which the declaration is to be furnished under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 7;

(c) the period within which and the manner of repatriation of foreign exchange under section 8;

(d) the limit up to which any person may possess foreign currency or foreign coins under clause (a) of section 9;

(e) the class of persons and the limit up to which foreign currency account may be held or operated under clause (b) of section 9;

(f) the limit up to which foreign exchange acquired may be exempted under clause (d) of section 9;

(g) the limit up to which foreign exchange acquired may be retained under clause (e) of section 9;

2[(ga) export, import or holding of currency or currency notes;]

(h) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, specified.

3[(3) All regulations made by the Reserve Bank before the date on which the provisions of this section are notified under section 6 and section 47 of this Act on capital account transactions, the regulation making power in respect of which now vests with the Central Government, shall continue to be valid, until amended or rescinded by the Central Government.]

Section 47, The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (Act 42 of 1999).

Cross-references

Extracted from the operative text of the enactments themselves. Every destination below exists in our corpus.

This section refers to

  1. s. 6 Capital account transactions
  2. s. 7 Export of goods and services
  3. s. 8 Realisation and repatriation of foreign exchange
  4. s. 9 Exemption from realisation and repatriation in certain cases

Related judgements & precedents

These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.

  1. Kotak Mahindra Bank LTD vs Hindustan National Glass & Ind. LTD

    Supreme Court of India 11 Dec 2012 Binding (SC) Reportable

    Court's Decision & Legal Precedent

    Wilful defaults of parties in meeting payment obligations to a bank under foreign exchange derivative transactions are covered by the RBI's Master Circular on Wilful Defaulters. The word 'lender' in the definition of wilful default in the Master Circular should be interpreted contextually to mean 'bank' and includes situations where a bank provides non-funded credit facilities such as derivative transactions. The Master Circular applies to all cases of wilful defaults where a party has the capacity to pay but willfully avoids payment of dues to the bank, whether such dues arise from traditional lending relationships or from other banking transactions such as derivative transactions or bank guarantees. The interpretation must be based on the purpose of the Master Circular (to disseminate credit information to caution banks from giving further finance to wilful defaulters), the mischief it seeks to remedy (preventing banks from being exploited by parties who have capacity to pay but willfully avoid payment), and the context in which the circular was issued (pursuant to Central Vigilance Commission instructions to report all cases of wilful defaults of Rs. 25 lakhs and above), rather than on a literal reading of the word 'lender.'

    On this section: Empowers RBI to make regulations for foreign exchange derivative contracts

    Read the full order on eCourts India

The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.

Made under this section, and citing it

15 instruments state that it was made under this provision — the power to make it comes from here, so a change to any of them changes what this section requires in practice. Newest first.

All subordinate legislation

Questions about Section 47

What have the courts held on Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act?

Kotak Mahindra Bank LTD vs Hindustan National Glass & Ind. LTD (11 Dec 2012) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: Empowers RBI to make regulations for foreign exchange derivative contracts.

How do I find court cases under Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act?

In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: Fema 47, section 47 Fema, section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act. People searching for it also type section 47 of the foreign exchange management act 1999. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 1 reported judgment on this section is set out on this page, beginning with Kotak Mahindra Bank LTD vs Hindustan National Glass & Ind. LTD (11 Dec 2012).

What should I read with Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, and has it changed?

Its own text turns on section 6 (Capital account transactions), section 7 (Export of goods and services), section 8 (Realisation and repatriation of foreign exchange), section 9 (Exemption from realisation and repatriation in certain cases), so none of them can safely be read on its own. The rules and notifications made under it are where it actually bites, and there are 15: most recently the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2017. (2017), then the Foreign Exchange Management (Acquisition and transfer of immovable property outside India) Regulations, 2015. (2016), and 13 more.

When did Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act come into force?

Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, cited as Fema 47, came into force on 01 Jun 2000, having been enacted on 29 Dec 1999. It is in force as at the date shown on this page.

Other sections of this Act

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Text as in force on 18 Oct 2026. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.