how to open liaison office in india

  • 5 years ago
0:19 How to start Liaison Office in india ?
0:52 A Liaison Office (also known as Representative Office) can undertake only liaison activities, i.e. it can act as a channel of communication between Head Office abroad and parties in India.
It is not allowed to undertake any business activity in India and cannot earn any income in India. Expenses of such offices are to be met entirely through inward remittances of foreign exchange from the Head Office outside India. The role of such offices is, therefore, limited to collecting information about possible market opportunities and providing information about the company and its products to the prospective Indian customers. Permission to set up such offices is initially granted for a period of 3 years and this may be extended from time to time by an AD Category I bank.

1:38 Requirements to Establish Liaison Office:

A} a profit making track record during the immediately preceding three financial years in the home country
B} Net Worth not less than USD 50,000 or its equivalent.

2:06 Process

2:31 English version of the Certificate of Incorporation / Registration or Memorandum & Articles of Association attested by Indian Embassy / Notary Public in the Country of Registration.

3:00 The application for establishing BO / LO in India should be forwarded by the foreign entity through a designated AD Category - I bank to the General Manager, Foreign Exchange Department, Central Office Cell, Reserve Bank of India, New Delhi Regional Office, 6, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110 001, India, along with the prescribed documents including

4:13 The Branch / Liaison offices established with the Reserve Bank's approval will be allotted a Unique Identification Number (UIN) (www.rbi.org.in/scripts/Fema.aspx). The BOs / LOs shall also obtain Permanent Account Number (PAN) from the Income Tax Authorities on setting up the offices in India

4:40 A Liaison Office can undertake the following activities in India:

4:52 i. Representing in India the parent company / group companies.
ii. Promoting export / import from / to India.
iii. Promoting technical/financial collaborations between parent/group companies and companies in India.
iv. Acting as a communication channel between the parent company and Indian companies.

5:13 Liaison Office of Foreign Insurance Companies / Banks

5:36 Foreign Insurance companies can establish Liaison Offices in India only after obtaining approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
Foreign banks can establish Liaison Offices in India only after obtaining approval from the Department of Banking Regulation (DBR), RBI.

Extension of Validity of the Approval of Liaison Offices
The designated AD Category - I bank may extend the validity period of LO/s for a period of 3 years from the date of expiry of the original approval / extension granted by the Reserve Bank, if the applicant has complied with the following conditions and the application is otherwise in order.
5:57

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