Revised common application form for FPIs notified

The government on Friday notified a revised common application form for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to get themselves registered in India, open bank and demat accounts, and obtain the permanent account number here.

It streamlines declaration requirements for FPIs in sync with recent policy announcements to draw foreign capital flows into the debt market and reverse recent months’ rupee fall, experts said.

The revised form, notified by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has introduced an “investing exclusively in government securities” category under the “FPI registration information” subhead.


It also removed certain heads that sought greater details of occupations of the foreign investors and whether they have been known by any names other than the ones declared by them, among others. Most of the other requirements, however, are retained.

The latest form replaces the one notified on January 27, 2020, the DEA said in the notification.

The revised form comes a week after the government exempted foreign investors from capital gains and withholding taxes on government securities held by them and also expanded the investable pool of long-dated papers.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) faced a 12.5% long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on listed shares and bonds held longer than 12 months and a 20% withholding tax on interest earned on G-Secs.

The government brought in an ordinance on June 5 to scrap these levies. It also added G-Secs in tenors of 15, 30, and 40 years as well as sovereign green bonds to the list of specified securities under the fully accessible route for FPIs investments. Earlier, the facility was only available for papers with tenors of up to 10 years.