P1409 Purpose Code: Dividends from Indian FDI enterprises abroad

P1409 is the RBI purpose code for: Inward remittance of dividends (on equity and investment fund shares) by Indian FDI Enterprises, other than branches, operating abroad. It sits in group 14, Primary Income, of the receipt purposes RBI uses to classify foreign exchange coming into India.

P1409 at a glance

Can a P1409 remittance become an eBRC?

No, as a rule. RBI places P1409 outside both the exports of goods (group 01) and the service groups, so the money is not proceeds of an export, and an eBRC certifies export proceeds. DGFT's eBRC guidelines do not name P1409. If the payment was in fact for goods or services you exported, the classification is wrong, and the bank that reported it is the one to correct 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 P1409 has been classified as: Inward remittance of dividends (on equity and investment fund shares) by Indian FDI Enterprises, other than branches, operating abroad.

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 P1409 is defined. That list, Annex I to A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 dated 29 February 2012, places P1409 in group 14, Primary Income, and describes it as: Inward remittance of dividends (on equity and investment fund shares) by Indian FDI Enterprises, other than branches, operating abroad. 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.

P1409 or a neighbouring code

The codes below are the ones most easily confused with P1409. The difference is in RBI’s wording, so the table quotes it, with what DGFT allows for each.

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 14

• P1401Compensation of employeesNot an export receipt
• P1403Interest on loans extended to non-residentsNot an export receipt
• P1405Interest receipts of AD banks on their own accountNot an export receipt
• P1408Profit remitted by branches of Indian FDI enterprisesNot an export receipt
• P1410Interest from Indian FDI enterprises abroadNot an export receipt
• P1411Interest income on portfolio investment abroadNot an export receipt
• P1412Dividends on portfolio investment abroadNot an export receipt
• P1499Other income receiptsNot an export receipt

All 9 Primary Income purpose codes