SEBI proposes relaxation of India geo-tagging rule for NRIs updating KYC details

SEBI proposes relaxation of India geo-tagging rule for NRI re-KYC process

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed to relax the requirement for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to be physically present in India while updating or modifying their Know Your Customer (KYC) details through digital onboarding or video client identification (V-CIP).

Currently, under the Master Circular on KYC dated October 12, 2023, intermediaries must ensure that clients are physically located in India during the digital onboarding process, verified through geo-tagging and time-stamped video interaction. However, several market participants have requested SEBI to simplify this process for existing NRI clients.

Responding to these representations, SEBI’s in its draft circular has proposed to amend the norms. The change would exempt NRIs from the requirement of being physically in India during re-KYC or KYC modification, while retaining safeguards to prevent misuse.

Under the new proposal, intermediaries’ applications must still capture GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the client’s location and verify that they match the country mentioned in the client’s proof of address. The app should also prevent connections from spoofed IP addresses to ensure authenticity. SEBI has invited public comments on the draft circular titled until November 13, 2025.

The move is part of SEBI’s wider initiative to make India’s financial ecosystem more accessible to global investors. In recent years, SEBI has introduced several measures to simplify registration and compliance for FPIs—including risk-based categorisation, a streamlined common application form for FPI registration and demat account opening, relaxation in disclosure norms for regulated entities, and alignment of KYC procedures across intermediaries.