Non resident ordinary or NRO saving accounts in India can be opened by any non resident Indian or a person of Indian origin who is settled abroad except residents of Nepal and Bhutan.
NRO saving accounts are specifically allowed when a non resident Indian have Indian income like rent, dividends or pensions etc that they want to keep in an Indian saving account.
A normal saving account can be converted to NRO saving account when the person’s status changed from resident to non resident.
You can add any other person being a resident in India as a joint holder to operate the NRO bank account in India.
Most of Indian banks are offering ATM card with NRO saving account for withdrawal of cash, to check bank balance and to do all other necessary things that a normal saving account allowed to do.
Document requirements to open a NRO saving account
3 types of documents are required to open a NRO saving account in India;
- Photocopy of your first and last page of passport that has your name, address, date of birth, date and place of issue, expiry date, photograph and signature.
- Valid work permit and/or employment visa. If it’s expired then acknowledged renewal request can also be accepted.
- Address proof like utility bills, rent agreement, driving license etc. if your passport’s address is the current address then that can be accepted as address proof.
If you are submitting documents from outside India then all these documents are required to be submitted with your self attestation.
Permitted transactions in NRO Saving account of NRI
Following transactions are allowed in a NRO saving account;
- Credit to NRO account from rupee account of non-resident Indian.
- Remitted in permitted currency through a proper banking channels
- Deposit of permitted currency at the time of non residents temporary visit to India
- Deposit of Rent, dividend, pension, interest etc.
Transfer of funds (other than current income) from your NRO saving account is allowed up to USD 1 million net of applicable taxes in a financial year. However, you are required to give an undertaking along with a certificate from a chartered accountant.
Current income like rent, dividend, pension etc can also be remitted outside India net of applicable taxes. Limit of USD 1 million is not applicable for current income. All local payments can also be paid in rupees.
Other than current income and limit of USD 1 million per financial year, balances in NRO account can not be repatriated without the prior approval of RBI.
Please remember that interest from NRO account is taxable in your hand and the bank wil be deducting TDS out of the interest income.
Not only NRO saving account but also NRO current, term deposit and fixed deposit accounts can be opened by a non resident Indian with any bank in India. Interest rates for these types of accounts will be based on the bank where you have opened your NRO account.
Many banks like ICICI, AXIS, HDFC, SBI and other PSU or private banks are allowing non resident to open NRO saving account in India.
A foreign national can also open NRO saving or current account in India with fund transferred from outside India through banking channel or by sale of foreign exchange.