CSBV Export shipments reflects on ICICI Trade Online

Hi Devang

We are in a similar situation with ICICI. Just replace Payoneer with Paypal. Around 600 CSB V shipments for the past 18 months are being reflected in Trade Online which the bank is repeatedly asking us to close. The remittances are not being shown as the transfers are in INR from Paypal and not USD. So bank is asking us to submit all documents physically at the branch. But inspite of supplying all required documents like shipping bill, FIRA, invoice etc they are still asking us a CA certificate for each shipment. So effectively they are asking for a CA audit of all our remittances. I think they might also ask you for this at some point in time. But such a thing costs a lot of money which will significantly harm our margins. On top of that the buffoons at ICICI are claiming that it will cost Rs. 1000 for every e-brc! Maybe closing down the business is a better alternative!

We are currently looking around a budget friendly CA to issue us a CA certificate for the 600 odd shipments. Regarding the ludicrous e-brc charges, we are planning to complain to RBI ombudsman as during the opening of the account with ICICI we were promised 'ZERO' e-brc charges. Funny thing is that they are still advertising free e-brc on their website.

Would love to hear how you are progressing with your issue.

I am writing to clarify certain points regarding ICICI Bank's involvement and shipping bill closure process, as well as the charges associated with export bills.
Regarding the charges for export bills, it is true that ICICI Bank levies a fee of INR 200 plus GST for each export bill. However, this charge may vary depending on the type of account you hold with the bank. Since I have a platinum account with ICICI, the fee structure may differ from other account types.
In regard to the closure of CSBV shipping bills, the process has been initiated since April 2023. According to the bank's instructions, sellers are required to create an IRM in an Excel format, which the bank will share with you. They will then proceed to close the bills on a monthly basis based on this information.
I understand your point about not taking advantage of benefits like duty drawback or Rodtep from the government. If you find the bill closure process to be a waste of time due to these reasons, you may decide not to pursue it. However, it is essential to ensure compliance with relevant regulations to avoid any potential issues in the future.

The detailed post was very helpful. We have the Gold account which translates to Rs. 500 + GST fee for each export bill it seems. This information was shared just like an hour back.

The process being started April onwards seems very accurate as we also got the excel sheet you are talking about sometime after that. We had been chasing the ICICI trade managers since July last year, but they had been clueless till now with regards to the process.

We might have very well decided not to pursue this whole process, but ICICI actually deducted Rs. 12,000 last December as penalty for not closing my open shipping bills sooner! I have complained multiple times that I was the one who was actually trying to close them, but the trade managers themselves were clueless, but to no avail. I am actually extremely disturbed at this level of inefficiency in ICICI at the base level.

Anyway we are still trying to bargain with ICICI with regards to the fees. In the meantime we are going to take a look at changing our bank to maybe IndusInd, since they seem to charge only Rs. 83+gst for the same thing.

Seems high time though that banks realise that ecommerce export can be as low value as Rs. 1000 and they can't treat it the same as a Rs. 50,00,000 value export.

I had with Mr. Kamlesh Jain, the Manager of IndusInd Bank who looks after Trade, four days ago, wherein I discussed the scenario of closing export documents for our transactions.

During the meeting, I thoroughly explained the complete export closure process, and unfortunately, I must inform you that Mr. Kamlesh Jain stated that IndusInd Bank can only close the export documents if the reduction is less than 3 percent, which, in our case, is not feasible.

As a possible alternative, I proposed that we could offer a 25% reduction declaration, similar to what other banks accept. However, Mr. Kamlesh denied this option and seemed more interested in suggesting that we ask our customers to make direct payments to IndusInd Bank ( Direct Inward Remittance) before exporting the materials.

I took the opportunity to draw a comparison by explaining that when any individual makes a purchase from Amazon or other online platforms, they do not directly transfer money to the seller's account before receiving the item. Instead, they use payment methods like Credit Card, GPay, etc., to make the transaction secure and hassle-free. However, despite this analogy, Mr. Kamlesh firmly expressed that closing the export bills under these circumstances is not possible.

I understand that this may pose challenges for our export process, and I am actively exploring other avenues and potential solutions with different banks to ensure the smooth processing of our export transactions.

I wanted to keep you informed about this development, and I will keep you updated on any progress or alternatives we may find in the coming days.

We have started trading through ICICI bank AD code from July 2023. However no CSB V shipping bill is reflecting in EDPMS till now. We have checked that correct 7 digit AD code is provided and same is printed on CSB. If someone can assist would be a great help.

Hi Everyone,

I am also an ecommerce exporter (b2c), and facing same issues.

Anyone facing these issues can contact below organisations/person, to bring these issues to notice.

1.  https://www.rbi.org.in/

2. https://fedai.org.in/

3. garima @ nasscom.in

4. https://commerce.gov.in/

I have too emailed them. If all the ecommerce exporters mail them, then there may be some chances, to get our issues resolved.

Hello everyone. 

We are an exporter shipping through CSB-V since FY 2018-19. We have got hundreds of inward remittances pending for settlement in ICICI bank. Till 2022, they didn't know the procedure to settle them considering the CSB-V shipping bills are not visible on EDPMS. Now, they are asking to share the details in an Excel file but along with it upload all documents in detail for every shipment since 2018. 

We contacted RBI, FIEO India President, FIEO Delhi President, Ex-DGFT Chairman and raised the matter at various other forums. All of them are aware of the challenges in settlement of such small value, large volume shipments w.r.t. administrative and financial issues. 

If we make representation to the goverment as a group, it may resolve the issue much faster. For example, Mr. Ajay Sahai, told me that they have requested the government to consider FIRC as the basis of closure of Inward remittances, instead of e-BRC. This would help in bypassing shipment wise tedious and costly reconciliation exercise. I am available for any discussion related to it on my email ID: ayush00100 @ gmail.com

I want to express my sincere gratitude for your valuable response to my query on the CA Club India site in the past. Your insights and assistance have been greatly appreciated.

However, I am writing to you today with a pressing concern that has recently arisen in our export operations, particularly those carried out under the CSBV mode. Since 2018, we have been successfully exporting numerous shipments using this mode, but we have encountered a significant challenge that I believe requires immediate attention.

Starting from April 1, 2023, all shipments exported under the CSBV mode are now being monitored through the Trade online software of ICICI Bank. The Trade team at ICICI Bank has requested that we provide an IRM of each shipment in Excel format, along with a range of documents, including invoice copies, CSBV shipping bills, FIRC (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate) copies, AWB (Airway Bill) copies, and Reduction Declarations, particularly those up to 25%.

However, if the reduction exceeds 25%, these documents will not be closed, and the e-BRC (Electronic Bank Realization Certificate) will not be generated. To make matters more concerning, the charges for closing each shipping bill are exorbitant, with a fee of INR 200 plus GST per bill in my case. For those account holders with a normal account at ICICI Bank, the charges are even higher, ranging from INR 500 to 1000 plus GST.

The point of contention here is that despite complying with these stringent requirements and incurring significant costs, our exports do not seem to derive any tangible benefits. In fact, this process consumes a substantial amount of time, money, and energy. To put it into perspective, if there are 500 exports each month, the bank charges for closing each document amount to INR 1,18,000 for those with a platinum account and a staggering INR 5,90,000 for those with a normal account at ICICI Bank.

This situation is immensely disappointing for us exporters. It feels like an excessive burden without any commensurate value or benefit. As a result, many exporters are struggling to cope with these financial and administrative challenges, and we believe it is vital to address this issue collectively.

I kindly request your assistance in providing a list of email addresses or contacts that we, as exporters, can reach out to. We aim to voice our concerns and grievances to higher authorities such as the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade), FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organizations), and any other relevant authorities who can help us address and potentially alleviate this issue.

It is imperative that we approach them collectively as a group to maximize the impact of our message and strive for a resolution that benefits the entire exporting community. Your guidance and support in this matter would be invaluable, and we look forward to your response.

Let us, as exporters, unite together and raise our voice as a collective force so that our concerns reach every corner. Together, we can work towards a resolution that benefits the entire exporting community.

Your guidance and support in this matter would be invaluable, and we look forward to your response.

Thank you once again for your time and assistance.

Sincerely,

Devang Bhansali.

Hello,
 

I'm a bit relieved that I'm not the only one facing issues with my Ad Bank.
 

I'm an e-commerce exporter selling through eBay and Amazon. On December 25th, 2022, we received a call from our bank informing us that we have pending shipping bills that are not closed, and we need to close them as soon as possible within 7 days, or the ED will inquire about it. This news caused me immense stress as I had never heard of such a news before. I reached out to the bank, and there were 40 shipping bills pending.
 

As a small exporter, our monetary volume of the business ranges from an average invoice value of Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 and Closing one shipping bill and generating a Bank Realization Certificate (BRC) costs about Rs 1200 plus GST, because of the Digital FIRC given by Payoneer is not a real FIRC but a "Non Objection Certification for Issuance of FIRC/FIRA" and to create a FIRC it will cost Rs 200 plus GST for each invoice. Furthermore, using this FIRC it costs Rs 445 plus GST for creating an Export Bill Collection Document. If we are late in submitting these documents, the late fee will be Rs 550 plus GST.
 

Completing this task seems impossible, as the bank is requesting invoices, AWB copies, order details, shipping bill copies, exchange rate information, eBay withdrawal details, and an Excel document explaining all the fees associated with eBay and Amazon. Even after providing all this information, the bank still fails to create the FIRC, As they say that RBI can only accept for a minimum of 5-10% of the charges.
 

Let me explain, Payoneer deducts various fees, including their commission, eBay fees, and store fees, before sending the remaining amount. Allow me to illustrate this with an example. Suppose I received an order on eBay worth 1000 USD. My logistics billing for the previous month was 600 USD, and the store renewal fees for previous month amount to be 50 USD. Payoneer's commission on the 1000 USD order is 123 USD. Therefore, the total payout after these deductions is 227 USD.

Now, I'm even more concerned about how to close a bill of 1000 USD when I've only received 227 USD.

As of Now I have decided to not clear any shipping bills and I surely believe that there will be an update regarding this issue, Banks should understand our business easily and there should be no charges or less charges for e-com exporters.

Best regards,
Bhavesh Chouhan

Dear Bhavesh, Please share your Number so that I can add you in WhatsApp Group so that we exporters can discuss online.

Sure, please check attachment for number. Looking forward to joining the group.Thanks.