According to the latest update from PayPal Asia Operations, the suspended money withdrawal in local banks of India may resume from 3’rd March 2010. It is now more than a month since Indian publishers, exporters, service providers, freelancers etc. are facing the problem of money withdrawal to their local bank in India from PayPal. But yesterday, PayPal sent an email with updates on PayPal money withdrawal in local banks, and now it seems that the withdrawal to local bank will resume from 3’rd March.
Here is the excerpt from the PayPal email where you can see that the PayPal team will provide more information on 1’st March i.e. Monday on the new field of “Exporter ID” which is now required for local bank withdrawal,
Today, we are happy to announce that the RBI has allowed us to continue local bank withdrawals for settlements for exports of goods and services. We are currently making changes to comply with Indian regulations for settlements for exports of goods and services, and we anticipate that, as of Wednesday, March 3rd, customers will be able to use our bank withdrawal service. As part of the changes, you will be required to fill out a new field entitled 'Export Code' when you request a withdrawal. This information is required under the current laws of India in order to identify the nature of cross-border merchant transactions. On Monday, March 1st, we will be back in touch with specific instructions on how you can move your money into your bank account.
As per the settlement between RBI and PayPal, now onwards PayPal will ask you the “Exporter ID” at the time of withdrawal. This exporter ID is also known as IEC (Importer Exporter Code) which is issues by the regional office of Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Amit Agarwal has published a handy information about the procedure to get IEC Number or Exporter ID.
Regarding the Personal Payments suspension, PayPal team updated that they are working on it to get some required approvals from RBI. Till that time the personal payments to and from PayPal India will be suspended. We talked to some people and found that it takes nearly 4 – 6 months to get the approval for the same.
Anyways, I hope that the withdrawal option thru Check will not ask to “Exporter ID” and you can withdraw your current amount on PayPal thru that. IEC number (Exporter ID) takes around 7 – 10 days to come after the documents and form submission. If you want to know more about IEC and Exporter ID then search for DGFT Office, Your Location and try to find the nearest regional office and ask them about the procedure.
Update: PayPal India has resumed the local banks withdrawal. You just need to select “Purpose Code” while withdrawing money in local banks.