Regulator profile · IN
RBI — Reserve Bank of India
Tracked byBrokerlist Editorial · Independent review teamUpdated
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India's central bank, monetary authority and foreign-exchange regulator under the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999 (FEMA). RBI does NOT licence retail OTC FX with foreign brokers — and FEMA explicitly prohibits resident Indians from using overseas brokers for speculative leveraged FX. SEBI regulates capital markets and INR-pair currency derivatives on Indian exchanges separately.
Brokers in India accepting residents under RBI- Jurisdiction
- Republic of India.
- Founded
- 1935
- Mandate
- Established under the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. RBI conducts monetary policy, regulates banking under the Banking Regulation Act 1949, and administers foreign-exchange controls under FEMA 1999. The Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS, current limit USD 250,000 per resident per year) governs outbound capital flows but explicitly excludes "remittance for trading in foreign exchange abroad" from permitted purposes.
- Consumer protection
- DICGC (Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, an RBI subsidiary) covers bank deposits up to INR 5 lakh per depositor per institution. The Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 covers banking, NBFC and digital-payment disputes. No specific retail-FX compensation scheme — RBI does not licence retail FX with foreign brokers in the first place.
- Retail leverage caps
- Not directly applicable to retail FX. Retail OTC FX with foreign counterparties is prohibited under FEMA — only INR-pair currency derivatives on recognised Indian exchanges (NSE/BSE/MCX-SX) are permitted, and these fall under SEBI rules with exchange-set margins. Banking-side margin trading on Indian listed equities is governed by SEBI, not RBI.
- Public register
- RBI publishes lists of authorised commercial banks, payments banks, NBFCs, money-transfer service operators (MTSO), Authorised Dealers (ADs banks for FX), and other supervised entities. The AD register identifies banks licensed to deal in foreign exchange under FEMA — the only authorised FX channel for Indian residents. Open register ↗
- Dispute resolution
- The RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme 2021 handles banking, NBFC, and digital-payment disputes — binding awards up to INR 30 lakh per complaint. FEMA violations are investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Ministry of Finance; penalties can reach three times the contravention amount.
- Editor notes
- RBI's FEMA framework restricts Indian residents to LRS-permitted remittances (USD 250,000/year) which explicitly exclude speculative FX abroad. Indian retail traders accessing offshore brokers (Exness, FBS, OctaFX, XM) operate under unauthorised arrangements — typically funding via informal banking channels or USDT/crypto rails. Enforcement Directorate prosecutions for FEMA violations on speculative FX have occurred but with selective targeting; the legal grey area remains a structural feature of the Indian retail FX market.
Brokers we track with a RBI licence
No brokersNo tracked broker currently holds a RBI licence in our database.