P0308 Purpose Code: Foreign currency surrendered by returning tourists
P0308 is the RBI purpose code for: Foreign Currencies/TCs surrendered by returning Indian tourists.. It sits in group 03, Travel, of the receipt purposes RBI uses to classify foreign exchange coming into India.
P0308 at a glance
| Code | P0308 |
| RBI wording | Foreign Currencies/TCs surrendered by returning Indian tourists. |
| RBI group | 03, Travel |
| Status | In RBI's receipt purpose list |
| eBRC on DGFT | Service export, not named |
| Who attaches it | The AD bank that receives the payment |
Can a P0308 remittance become an eBRC?
DGFT's guidelines do not name P0308. They say that for a service export the exporter can attach only invoices whose SAC code matches the description of the service, and that no two purpose codes may be clubbed in one eBRC except with P0103. So where P0308 is the right description of a service you exported, the eBRC is generated with P0308 on its own, or clubbed with P0103, against an invoice whose SAC code matches that service.
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 P0308 has been classified as: Foreign Currencies/TCs surrendered by returning Indian tourists..
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 P0308 is defined. That list, Annex I to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 dated 29 February 2012, places P0308 in group 03, Travel, and describes it as: Foreign Currencies/TCs surrendered by returning Indian tourists.. 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.
Service exporters, freelancers included, will find the whole route from remittance to certificate in eBRC for freelancers and service exporters.
P0308 or a neighbouring code
The codes below are the ones most easily confused with P0308. The difference is in RBI’s wording, so the table quotes it, with what DGFT allows for each.
| Code | RBI wording | eBRC on DGFT |
|---|---|---|
| P0308 | Foreign Currencies/TCs surrendered by returning Indian tourists. | Service export, not named |
| P0301 | Purchases towards travel (Includes purchases of foreign TCs, currency notes etc over the counter, by hotels, Emporiums, institutions etc. as well as amount received by TT/SWIFT transfers or debit to Non-Resident account). | Service export, not named |
| P0302 | Business travel | Service export, not named |
| P0304 | Travel for medical treatment including TCs purchased by hospitals | Service export, not named |
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.