P0703 Purpose Code: Custodial, depository and auxiliary financial services

P0703 is the RBI purpose code for: Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.. It sits in group 07, Financial Services, of the receipt purposes RBI uses to classify foreign exchange coming into India.

P0703 at a glance

CodeP0703
RBI wordingAuxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.
RBI group07, Financial Services
StatusIn RBI's receipt purpose list
eBRC on DGFTService export, not named
Who attaches itThe AD bank that receives the payment

Can a P0703 remittance become an eBRC?

DGFT's guidelines do not name P0703. 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 P0703 is the right description of a service you exported, the eBRC is generated with P0703 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 P0703 has been classified as: Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc..

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 P0703 is defined. That list, Annex I to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 dated 29 February 2012, places P0703 in group 07, Financial Services, and describes it as: Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.. 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.

P0703 or a neighbouring code

The codes below are the ones most easily confused with P0703. The difference is in RBI’s wording, so the table quotes it, with what DGFT allows for each.

CodeRBI wordingeBRC on DGFT
P0703Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.Service export, not named
P0701Financial intermediation except investment banking, Bank charges, collection charges, LC charges, etc.Service export, not named
P0702Investment banking, brokerage, under writing commission etc.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.

Other codes in group 07

All 3 Financial Services purpose codes

P0703 is an RBI purpose code for an inward remittance, and it classifies the payment as: Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.. It sits in group 07, Financial Services, of the receipt purposes Authorised Dealer banks report to the RBI.

DGFT's guidelines do not name P0703. 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 P0703 is the right description of a service you exported, the eBRC is generated with P0703 on its own, or clubbed with P0103, against an invoice whose SAC code matches that service.

Your AD bank does, not you. When a foreign payment reaches the account the bank reports it to the RBI with a purpose code, and that report is the Inward Remittance Message, the IRM. The code arrives already attached, which is why a code that looks wrong is corrected through the bank rather than through DGFT, before the remittance is mapped to an eBRC.

In RBI's FETERS receipt purpose list, Annex I to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 dated 29 February 2012, P0703 sits in group 07, Financial Services, and reads: Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.. FETERS is the Foreign Exchange Transactions Electronic Reporting System, under which Authorised Dealer banks report their foreign exchange transactions to the RBI.

They describe different payments. P0703 means: Auxiliary services, charges on operation & regulatory fees, custodial services, depository services etc.. P0701 means: Financial intermediation except investment banking, Bank charges, collection charges, LC charges, etc.. P0702 means: Investment banking, brokerage, under writing commission etc.. For an eBRC under DGFT's guidelines: P0703: Service export, not named; P0701: Service export, not named; P0702: Service export, not named. The AD bank picks the code that describes the payment, from the 3 codes in group 07 and the rest of RBI's list.

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