Every entity that has received Foreign Direct Investment and/or made Overseas Direct Investment in the previous reporting period(s) or current reporting period is required to file an annual return on its Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) to Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The annual return is to be filed by the entity and shall be submitted by July 15, every year. In case, where the audited financials are not available, the entity will have to file the annual return on the basis of its unaudited financials. The audited financials shall in such cases be filed on or before September 30, every year. If you want to know about the concept of this requirement, Click Here.
The RBI has provided an online platform for filing of FLA Return. Every eligible entity must register itself on the portal for submission of FLA Return. It is certainly the first thing you need to do before proceeding with filing of the annual return with the RBI. The steps for registering with the FLAIR Portal are quite simple.
# entity would include all companies, limited liability partnership firms, SEBI registered Alternative Investment Funds, Partnership Funds and any Public-Private Partnerships.
Pre-requisites for Registration:
1. Appointment of Authorised Person-A person who will be responsible for the filing the FLA annual return should be appointed by the entity. Since OTP verification would be done, he/she should be someone who has a valid email ID and is available to provide the same.
2. Execution of Authority Letter- An authority letter authorizing a person for filing of FLA annual return is required to be executed by the Director/ Designated Partner/ Investment Manager or Sponsor of Investment Vehicle (as the case may be). The letter will contain the details about the authorized person and the entity. It needs to be printed on the letterhead of the entity, Download the Format.
3. Verification Letter- A verification letter is required to be filled verifying the entity identification number and details of the authorized person. The verification letter is not required to be signed, however, the name and complete address of the signatory of the authority letter is required to be mentioned, Download the Format.
4. Other Documents: Although, the copy PAN of the entity, Entity Identification Number and PAN of the Authorised Person is not mandatory to be attached while registering, it is suggested to provide the same at the time of making the registration.
The following are the steps to register with the FLAIR Portal:
Step-1: Go to Login page for FLAIR Portal
You will have to begin by going to the FLAIR Portal login page. You can use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome etc. to open the application. The link for application is https://flair.rbi.org.in.
Step-2: Click on New Entity User
Once you are there on the FLAIR portal, click on new user registration. The application will take you to a new page where you are required to fill the basic entity information, information related to authorized person.
Step-3: Submission of registration request
Once you have filled in the registration form and have attached the verification letter, authority letter along with the supporting documents, you are required to submit the form. A message ‘Record Saved Successfully’ will pop up.
Step-4- Generation of Login Credentials
A default password and user id will be sent to your registered email Id. Use the user id and default password to login and upon logging in, the system will request you to change the password. You can set the password as you like.
Step-5: Login into FLAIR Portal
Once the password is reset, you can login to the portal to proceed with the filing of FLA annual return. An OTP will be sent to your registered email ID to validate your login. Insert the OTP to continue with the filing.
Once you have successfully registered with the RBI-Flair Portal, you can proceed with the filing of FLA Annual Return, Click here to know about it.
Hope this process flow will be helpful to you in registering your entity. In case, you have any questions regarding the registration process do write to me at anjalibansalcs@gmail.com.