IRM Full Form: Inward Remittance Message
Every eBRC begins life as an IRM. The term is everywhere in export paperwork and explained almost nowhere, so this is the whole of it: what the letters stand for, what the record holds, who creates it, and what you do with one.
What the letters stand for
Inward, because the money is coming into India. Remittance, because it is a payment sent across a border. Message, because what DGFT receives is not the money itself but the bank's structured report of it: who received how much, in which currency, on what date, and for what stated purpose.
The IRM is the export side of a family of bank records. Its sibling on the documentation side is the FIRC, and the two get confused constantly; the difference is written up in FIRC vs eBRC.
Who creates an IRM, and when
Your AD bank does, and you cannot. When an export payment reaches your account, the bank reports it to DGFT on its own schedule, usually within days. The IRM then appears in the DGFT repository against your IEC, and if your DGFT account is connected to a workspace, it arrives there on its own.
This is why a payment that has reached your account can still be invisible on the portal: the money moved, the report has not. The gap, and what to do about it, is its own guide: why an IRM is not showing on DGFT.
What one IRM holds
- The amount and currency the bank received for you.
- The date it was realised in India.
- The purpose code, the RBI classification of what the payment was for. Export codes are the P01 family, and the purpose code guide walks through them.
- An IRM number, the reference that identifies this remittance in every later step. When a form asks for the IRM number, this is what it wants.
The three statuses, and what each one permits
Every IRM carries a status, and the status decides what you can do with it.
- Fresh is ready to use. Map it to an invoice and certify it.
- Amended means the bank revised the record after first reporting it, usually a corrected amount or purpose. Read it again before you map it, because the figures may not be the ones you remember.
- Cancelled was withdrawn by the bank and should not be mapped at all.
An IRM also tracks how much of it is still unused. One payment can cover several invoices, and each mapping draws down the balance until it is spent.
How an IRM becomes an eBRC
The certificate is the IRM plus your answer to one question: which export did this money pay for? You map the remittance to its invoice and shipping bill, declare any deductions the bank took, and certify. DGFT issues the eBRC against that mapping. The walkthrough is in generating your first eBRC, and what an eBRC itself is lives in the eBRC explainer.
Where to see your IRMs
Two places. On the DGFT portal: log in, open My Dashboard, then Repositories, then Bank Realisations, where the remittances sit on their own tab. Or in an eBRC exporter app, where they arrive on their own once your DGFT account is connected, each with its status and unused balance visible, and each one two clicks from becoming a certificate. An account is free.
Frequently asked questions
What is the full form of IRM in export?
Inward Remittance Message: the record your AD bank reports to DGFT when a foreign payment arrives in your account.
What is an IRM number?
The reference identifying one reported remittance. Forms that ask for it mean the number on the bank's report, visible in the DGFT repository and in the app.
Is an IRM the same as a FIRC?
No. The IRM is the bank's report to DGFT, used to build an eBRC. A FIRC is a certificate the bank issues to you as documentary proof of the same money. Related, not interchangeable.
Why is my IRM not showing?
Usually because the bank has not reported it yet; banks report on their own schedule. The full list of causes and fixes is in the IRM troubleshooting guide.