The RBI has eased the rules for small inward remittances; Stripe has not caught up, reports KBS Sidhu, Former Special Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, and Founder-Editor, The KBS Chronicle
Chandigarh, 7 November 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A month after the RBI Governor publicly said that individuals earning from services abroad need not file the new export declaration, and five days after the RBI wrote that relief into its regulations, Stripe, the leading international payments portal, is still demanding PAN, Aadhaar, an income-tax return and an Importer-Exporter Code or GST number from small earners in India, KBS Sidhu reports.
The trail begins with the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 (Notification No. FEMA 23(R)/2026-RB), notified on 13 January 2026 and in force from 1 October 2026. They require every service exporter to file an Export Declaration Form within 30 days after the end of the month in which the invoice is raised. For a pensioner with a small newsletter, or a young writer or software freelancer at a modest desk, that was a form built for companies.
Relief came in two steps. On 7 October 2026 the RBI Governor and a Deputy Governor said in public that individuals providing personal services abroad need not report. The Second Amendment Regulations (Notification No. FEMA 23(R)/(2)/2026-RB), dated 2 November 2026 and effective from 1 October, then made it law. A resident individual is treated as having filed the declaration once the payment details reach the authorised dealer bank, and other exporters get the same facility for inward remittances up to ₹10 lakh.
What has reached the platform, KBS Sidhu says, appears to be the first, stricter version. His own Stripe account has been asked for his PAN and Aadhaar, both already uploaded, and now for his income-tax return, which carries his date of birth even though the file is password-protected. The alternative offered is an IEC or a GST number. He has neither and needs neither. His annual revenue is under ₹50,000, and most of his paid readers are in India, so these are largely domestic rupee payments. With the account tied to his mobile number, he asks how safe it is to hand such a bundle to any portal.
“Mine is one case among a great many. Young gig workers, writers, academic researchers and software people who earn a livelihood from modest workstations face the same demands, and some are threatening to stop accepting payments. If the formal channel becomes a thicket, they will drift to informal ones, and the purpose of the rules is lost.” — KBS Sidhu
“The irony is that this falls on the eve of Diwali, when Goddess Lakshmi is welcomed with open doors across the country, indeed across the world. We are tracking down small inward remittances earned by the sweat of the brow. Round-tripping of big money through Mauritius and other tax havens draws far less scrutiny, and the huge haircuts taken mainly by public sector banks in resolutions under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, before the National Company Law Tribunal pass with hardly a question.” — KBS Sidhu
KBS Sidhu has shot off a letter to the RBI Governor, with copies to the Union Finance Minister and the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry. His earlier letter of 7 October on the declaration form was acknowledged by the RBI’s Foreign Exchange Department on 22 October. He asks for three things:
A written clarification, or the promised FAQs, that individuals and sole proprietors below a stated annual threshold need no IEC, GST registration or income-tax return to receive payments through an aggregator, with verified PAN and Aadhaar sufficing.
A proactive meeting between the RBI and Stripe India, and other aggregators, so the clarification reaches their onboarding desks.
A note on whether the present demands flow from the RBI’s directions or from an aggregator’s own reading of them.
About: KBS Sidhu is a retired IAS officer (1984, Punjab cadre), Former Special Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, and Principal Secretary (Finance), Punjab, 2010–2012. He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Manchester and edits The KBS Chronicle (kbssidhu.substack.com). Contact: kbs.sidhu@gmail.com, 7837-001-001.
NOTE FOR PUNJAB AND CHANDIGARH DESKS
Punjab’s Young Freelancers, Stripe and the Small Earner’s Door
CHANDIGARH, 7 November 2026: Punjab’s young freelancers, from the IT cluster at Mohali to writers, researchers and online tutors across the state’s towns, may be among those still being asked by Stripe, the leading international payments portal, for PAN, Aadhaar, an income-tax return and an IEC or GST number, KBS Sidhu, Former Special Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, said. The RBI has relaxed its rules for small inward remittances, most recently by an amendment dated 2 November 2026, but the platform appears to be applying the older requirement. KBS Sidhu has written to the RBI Governor, with copies to the Union Finance Minister and the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, asking for a written clarification and a meeting between the RBI and Stripe India.
“Lakshmi should not be turned away at the small earner’s door on Diwali Eve.” — KBS Sidhu
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