P0108 Purpose Code: Merchanting trade, export leg
P0108 is the RBI purpose code for: Goods sold under merchanting / receipts against export leg of merchanting trade. It sits in group 01, Exports (of Goods), of the receipt purposes RBI uses to classify foreign exchange coming into India.
P0108 at a glance
| Code | P0108 |
| RBI wording | Goods sold under merchanting / Receipt against export leg of merchanting trade |
| RBI group | 01, Exports (of Goods) |
| Status | In RBI's receipt purpose list |
| eBRC on DGFT | No, DGFT excludes it |
| Who attaches it | The AD bank that receives the payment |
Can a P0108 remittance become an eBRC?
No. DGFT's eBRC guidelines say, in terms: "Users cannot generate eBRC for Purpose Codes P0101 and P0108." The same guidelines leave P0108 out of the codes P0103 may be clubbed with. If the money was for an export you need certified, ask the AD bank whether P0108 is the right classification before you plan around it.
The rule is DGFT’s, from its General Guidelines for Generating eBRC (last updated 26 March 2024). The full list, and what each rule means when you map remittances, is in how to generate an eBRC on the DGFT portal.
What this code says about the money
A purpose code is your bank speaking, not you. When a foreign payment reaches your account, the AD bank reports it with a purpose code that states the RBI classification of the transaction, and that report is the Inward Remittance Message, the IRM. A remittance carrying P0108 has been classified as: Goods sold under merchanting / receipts against export leg of merchanting trade.
In FETERS reporting
FETERS is the Foreign Exchange Transactions Electronic Reporting System, the system under which Authorised Dealer banks report their foreign exchange transactions to the RBI, and its receipt purpose list is where P0108 is defined. That list, Annex I to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 dated 29 February 2012, places P0108 in group 01, Exports (of Goods), and describes it as: Goods sold under merchanting / Receipt against export leg of merchanting trade. That is the wording a bank’s reporting desk works from, so it is the wording to match when you ask the bank what a remittance was reported as.
RBI defines the term in a footnote to the same list: “'Merchanting' here refers to purchase/sale of goods from/to a non-resident combined with subsequent resale of the same goods to another non-resident without goods being present in the compiling economy (resident's economy). Essentially, goods transaction would be termed as 'merchanting' if goods acquired do not enter the territory of the compiling (resident's) economy and secondly, goods being acquired do not undergo any transformation before being resold or repurchased.”
If the goods were sold by a seller in India but travelled straight from a supplier abroad to the buyer, as in dropshipping, which of the group 01 codes applies turns on whether the goods physically left India and on who invoiced whom. The dropshipping purpose code guide sets out the candidates.
Whatever the code, the proceeds of a goods export have to be realised within the period FEMA sets, and the export realisation period guide gives the period in force and the date it runs from.
P0108 or a neighbouring code
The codes below are the ones most easily confused with P0108. The difference is in RBI’s wording, so the table quotes it, with what DGFT allows for each.
| Code | RBI wording | eBRC on DGFT |
|---|---|---|
| P0108 | Goods sold under merchanting / Receipt against export leg of merchanting trade | No, DGFT excludes it |
| P0104 | Receipts against export of goods not covered by the GR /PP /SOFTEX /EC copy of shipping bill etc. (under Intermediary/transit trade, i.e., third country export passing through India | Yes, goods export |
| P0101 | Value of export bills negotiated / purchased/discounted etc. (covered under GR/PP/SOFTEX/EC copy of shipping bills etc.), Other than Nepal and Bhutan | No, DGFT excludes it |
| P0102 | Realisation of export bills (in respect of goods) sent on collection (full invoice value), Other than Nepal and Bhutan | Yes, goods export |
If the code on your remittance looks wrong
The code is attached at reporting time by the bank, so the fix runs through the bank, not through DGFT. Ask the AD branch that received the payment to confirm the classification; an amended report shows up as a revised IRM. What each IRM status means, and what you can do with a remittance in each state, is in the IRM explainer, and the errors DGFT returns when a code does not fit the filing are in IRM mapping errors on DGFT. Exporters who agree the purpose code with their buyer's bank once, at onboarding, rarely meet this page twice.
Other codes in group 01
- P0101Export bills negotiated, purchased or discountedNo, DGFT excludes it
- P0102Realisation of export bills sent on collectionYes, goods export
- P0103Advance receipts against export contractsYes, alone or clubbed
- P0104Intermediary or transit trade receiptsYes, goods export
- P0105Export bills sent on collectionDiscontinued by RBI
- P0106Overdue export bills converted from NPD to collectionNot in RBI's 2012 list
- P0107Realisation of NPD export billsDiscontinued by RBI
- P0109Exports to Nepal and BhutanYes, goods export