FCGPR Reporting – Everything You Must Know About FCGPR – FDI Compliance

Attracting foreign investments is one of the effective ways for business growth and expansion. However, in most cases, it comes against the issue of equity thereby diluting the stake in the entity and passing ownership and some sort of control to the foreign land. This is what the government aims to regulate for which it placed certain regulatory and procedural mechanisms. The recipients of foreign exchange need to comply with these regulatory compliances whenever they receive investments from residents outside India. One of the associated compliances is the filing of the Form FC-GPR. 

What is Form FC-GPR? 

Foreign Currency Gross Provisional Return, also known as FC-GPR, shall be filed by the company whenever it receives foreign investment by allotting shares to the foreign investor. After the allotment of shares, RBI shall be reported within 30 days of such allotment by filing the Form FC-GPR.

Following are the documents required for filing the Form FC-GPR: 

• A copy of the Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) 
• Company Secretary Certificate that all the requirements of the Companies Act, 2013 have been complied with 
• Appointment of an authorized representative 
• A valuation report by a Chartered Accountant or a Merchant Banker indicating the value of shares that are issued to the person resident outside India 
• Board resolution approving the allotment of securities 
• Copy of approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (if required) 
• Any other document as may be required by the RBI

Following are the steps involved in filing the Form FC-GPR: 

Registration of the User 

• For getting registered, the applicant shall visit the FIRMS portal of RBI. It shall get registered as a business user by clicking on the New Business User link. 
• Fill in the required details, attach the required documents and submit the form. The concerned AD bank will verify the details and decide upon the approval and rejection thereof. The same would be intimated to the applicant through email to the business user.  
• Once the submission is done and approved, you will receive the login credentials in your mail. 

Filing Form FC-GPR 

• Login to the portal using the username and password received in the email. 
• Click on the Navigation tab and select Single Master Form (SMF) 
• Click on the return type drop-down menu and choose Form FC-GPR. Start filling in the required details like entry route, applicable sectoral cap, etc. 
• In the Issue Details tab, provide details regarding the nature of the issue, date of the issue, initial FCGPR reference number, etc. 
• In the Foreign Investment Details tab, provide details regarding the constitution and nature of investing entity, name of the investors, residence address, etc. 
• In the Amount of Issue tab, enter the total amount of inflow and the amount for which the capital instrument has been issued. 
• In the Particulars of Issue tab, the fair value of shares shall be disclosed along with the valuation certificate.  
• In the Shareholding Pattern tab, the value of the equity shares along with the foreign investment value of equity shares are displayed. Also, pre-transaction and post-transaction values are auto-calculated on the basis of the details provided in the form. The applicant shall confirm the details. 
• Once completed, the applicant shall submit the form. 

Penal Provisions 

In case of delayed filing of Form FC-GPR, the applicant shall be liable to pay a Late Submission Fees for the delay in reporting. 

Further, in case of non-compliance by the company in receipt of foreign investment, it shall be liable to a penalty of 1% of the total investment amount subject to a minimum of Rs. 5000 and maximum up to Rs. 5 lakhs per month or part thereof for the first 6 months of delay. Thereafter, the rate shall double. The penalty shall be paid to the designated account in RBI.