P0901 Purpose Code: Franchise services
P0901 is the RBI purpose code for: Franchises services. It sits in group 09, Intellectual Property, of the receipt purposes RBI uses to classify foreign exchange coming into India.
P0901 at a glance
| Code | P0901 |
| RBI wording | Franchises services |
| RBI group | 09, Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e |
| 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 P0901 remittance become an eBRC?
DGFT's guidelines do not name P0901. 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 P0901 is the right description of a service you exported, the eBRC is generated with P0901 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 P0901 has been classified as: Franchises services.
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 P0901 is defined. That list, Annex I to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 dated 29 February 2012, places P0901 in group 09, Charges for the use of intellectual property n.i.e, and describes it as: Franchises services. 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.
P0901 or a neighbouring code
The codes below are the ones most easily confused with P0901. The difference is in RBI’s wording, so the table quotes it, with what DGFT allows for each.
| Code | RBI wording | eBRC on DGFT |
|---|---|---|
| P0901 | Franchises services | Service export, not named |
| P0902 | Receipts for use, through licensing arrangements, of produced originals or prototypes (such as manuscripts and films), patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial processes, franchises 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.