Can I receive the advance and the balance payment in different banks?

Splitting payments across banks is common: a client might send a deposit by wire to one account and pay the balance later through a platform that settles into another. The FEMA (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 (the 2026 Regulations) allow this, with one condition.¹

What does regulation 10 require?

Regulation 10(1) says an exporter who receives an advance for an export must route the advance and the realisation of export proceeds, if any, through the same Authorised Dealer (AD) bank.¹ The exception is where the exporter intimates the change to both banks.¹ So a switch is allowed, but it has to be on record at the old bank and the new one.

Why does it matter which bank gets the money?

Your AD bank keeps the export record and must close it when the export is complete. It enters each service Export Declaration Form (EDF) in the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS), and regulation 18 sets out how it closes advance and export entries.¹ If the advance sits in one bank and the balance in another, neither bank sees the whole transaction unless you tell them.

Example: an animation studio in Pune takes a $5,000 advance from a Toronto client into its current account at Bank A, then receives the $15,000 balance through a payment platform that settles into Bank B. The studio writes to both banks with the invoice, the two receipts and the client details, so each can match its side.¹

How do you tell both banks?

The 2026 Regulations prescribe no form, and each bank's published procedure sets the documents it wants.¹ A short letter usually works:

1. Name the client, contract and invoice numbers.
2. Give the date, amount and reference of the advance, and the bank that received it.
3. Say which bank will receive the balance, and why.
4. Ask each bank to confirm it has noted the change.

Does a split affect your e-BRC?

It can affect how you group receipts. DGFT's e-BRC rules allow inward remittance messages to be clubbed only if they are in the same currency and from the same bank, and let the advance code P0103 be clubbed with other purpose codes.² Receipts in two banks may therefore need separate e-BRCs. See purpose code for advance payment.

For the wider rules on advances, including refunds when a project is cancelled, see advance payment against exports. Confirm the notice format with your banks.