In August, I’d written about SEBI’s proposal to simplify account opening for NRIs. Good to see that the changes have now been finalised.

For years, one of the biggest hurdles for NRIs wanting to invest in India has been account opening. While those with existing KYC could open accounts digitally, anyone abroad needing fresh KYC had to get documents attested by a notary or the Indian embassy, courier physical copies to India, and wait weeks for the account to open.

From December 3, NRIs and OCIs living in FATF-compliant countries will be able to complete digital KYC entirely from abroad. Something that took weeks can now be done in 2–3 days.

I’ve always felt that making it easier for NRIs to invest is one of the simplest ways to attract more long-term capital into India. Many of them already want to invest here, but the process has been complicated.

At Zerodha, we’ve been able to simplify several things for NRIs over the last year, but account opening has remained one of the biggest challenges.

With this change, there’s no reason why you, as an NRI, should go elsewhere to trade and invest 🙂

Read more here.

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