I. As per Section 3 (a) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, save as otherwise provided in FEMA, 1999, rules or regulations made thereunder, or with the general or special permission of the Reserve Bank, no person shall deal in or transfer any foreign exchange or foreign security to any person not being an authorised person.

II. As per Section 5 and 6 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, any person may sell or draw foreign exchange to or from an Authorised Person for permitted current and capital account transactions.

III. As per Regulation 4 read with Schedule I of the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign exchange derivative contracts) Regulations, 2000 [Notification no. FEMA 25/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000], a person, whether resident in India or resident outside India, may enter into a foreign exchange derivative contract with an authorised dealer only. List of authorised dealers is available on the following link: https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/category.aspx

IV. As per this list, the broker providing forex trading platform is not an authorised dealer.

V. As per Para 3(1) of the Electronic Trading Platforms (ETP) (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018 [Notification No.FMRD.FMID.08/2018 dated October 05, 2018], no entity shall operate an ETP without obtaining prior authorisation of the RBI under these directions. The link is as follows: https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FS_Notification.aspx?Id=11385&fn=6&Mode=0

VI. Platform referred in the RTI is not authorised under the Electronic Trading Platforms (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018.

VII. Also, please refer to the press release (2010-2011/1196 dated February 21, 2011) on ‘RBI Advisory on Overseas Forex Trading through Electronic/ Internet Trading Portals’, available on the bank’s website at https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=23941

VIII. As regards permitted currency pairs:

i. Currency pairs permitted in cash/tom/spot transactions: As per Para 5 and 6 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, residents may buy or sell foreign exchange for permitted current and capital account transactions. Therefore, the currency pair of the Forex transaction shall be in line with the currency in which the underlying current/capital account transaction is denominated.

ii. Currency pairs permitted in derivative transactions:

a. In OTC market transactions: As per the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign exchange derivative contracts) Regulations, 2000 [Notification no. FEMA 25/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000] read with Master Direction-Risk Management and Inter-Bank Dealings dated July 05, 2016 (as updated from time to time), residents may undertake foreign exchange derivative transactions involving INR for the purpose of hedging exchange rate risk on transactions permissible under the FEMA, 1999. Foreign exchange derivative transactions not involving INR can be undertaken for purpose other than hedging. There is no restriction on currency pair in both these cases. Please refer to the following link: https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=10485&fn=6&Mode=0

b. In exchange traded derivative transactions: As per the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign exchange derivative contracts) Regulations, 2000 [Notification no. FEMA 25/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000] read with Currency Futures (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2008 [Notification No. FED.1/DG(SG)-2008] dated August 6, 2008, as amended from time to time, and the Exchange Traded Currency Options (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2010 [Notification No. FED.01 / ED (HRK) - 2010] dated July 30, 2010, as amended from time to time, residents are permitted to enter into currency futures and options contracts in USD-INR, EUR-INR, GBP-INR, JPY-INR, EUR-USD, GBP-USD and USD-JPY on the stock exchanges recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in India. Please refer to the following links:
https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=4410&Mode=0
https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=5913&Mode=0
https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FS_Notification.aspx?Id=10172&fn=5&Mode=0

i. Resident persons are permitted to undertake forex transactions only with authorised persons and for permitted purposes, in terms of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). List of authorised persons is available on the following link: https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/category.aspx.

ii. Further, as per Para 3 (1) of the Electronic Trading Platforms (ETP) (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2018 [Notification No.FMRD.FMID.07/2018-19, dated October 05, 2018], no entity shall operate an ETP without obtaining prior authorisation of the RBI under these directions. List of ETPs authorised by the RBI is available on the following link: https://rbi.org.in/scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=4080.

iii. Also, please refer to RBI Press Release (2021-2022/1660) dated February 03, 2022 and Press Release (2022-2023/835) dated Sep 07, 2022 available on the RBI website at https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=53216 and https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=54333 respectively.  You may also refer to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on forex transactions available on the RBI website at  https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=146 for guidance.