How to submit the currency declaration form to trade in the currency segment?

RBI has mandated traders to compulsorily have an underlying contracted exposure to foreign currency if they want to trade in the currency derivatives segment. The corresponding exchange circulars enforcing the RBI's instructions are linked below:

If a trader has an exposure greater than $100 million (i.e., notional contract value), they will be required to appoint a custodian participant or an authorised dealer. However, for traders with a smaller exposure, a declaration that they are trading currencies to hedge their contracted exposure will suffice.

Online

At Zerodha, when clients activate their currency segment, they will have to submit the RBI declaration. The mobile number must be linked with Aadhaar to activate the segment online. To activate the currency segment, you need income proof. You can select a holding statement if the holding value is more than Rs. 10,000. You can upload any one of the valid income proofs, or you can submit a bank statement via OTP. This is recommended as Zerodha fetches the bank statement via an RBI-approved Account Aggregator instantly.

Visit account.zerodha.com/account.
Click on Login and log in with Kite credentials.
Click on Activate Segments.
Click on the Toggle switch to select the currency segment.
Click on Apply changes.
Select the income range.
Select Submit bank statement via OTP, then click on Get OTP.
Select the bank and click on Proceed.
Enter the OTP and click on Verify code.
Click on Link account.
Enter the OTP and Click on Verify OTP.
Click on Accept.
Click on Continue.
Click on Sign Now.
Enter your Aadhaar number and click on Accept and Continue.
Enter the OTP and click on Verify OTP.

Offline

If your mobile number is not linked to Aadhaar, or if you have a joint demat account, you can submit the currency declaration offline by following these steps:

Print and sign the RBI declaration form (PDF).
Courier it along with an income proof ¹ to:

Zerodha Customer Support Centre
#192A, 4th Floor, Kalyani Vista
3rd Main Road, JP Nagar 4th Phase
Bengaluru 560076

To revoke the declaration, please create a ticket. The revocation will be done in 72 working hours.

Note

¹ Any of the below documents will suffice as income proof:

Bank statement for the last 6 months with an average balance of more than ₹10,000. (Statement must be in the name of the Zerodha account holder.)
The latest salary slip with gross monthly income exceeding ₹15,000.
ITR acknowledgement with gross annual income exceeding ₹1,20,000.
Form 16 with gross annual income exceeding ₹1,20,000.
Certificate of net worth more than ₹10,00,000.
Latest statement of demat holdings with current holdings value exceeding ₹10,000. (Your holdings must not be pledged)
Latest Fixed Deposit (FD) receipt with a deposit amount exceeding ₹1,00,000.

RBI defines contracted exposure in the following way:

‘Contracted exposure’ means currency risk arising on account of current or capital account transactions permissible under the FEMA, 1999 or any rules or regulations made thereunder, that have been entered into.

To learn more, visit tradingqna.com/t/query-on-currency-derivatives-trading.

Things to keep in mind

For non-individual accounts, the eSign can be completed by an authorised signatory using their individual Aadhaar number.
You must enable the segment on Console by 8 PM to trade in currencies the next trading day. If you are couriering the declaration, it can take up to 48 working hours for the segment to be enabled.
Your equity segment must be active to enable the currency segment.
You cannot enable currency and commodity segments at the same time. You must place separate requests.

Still need help?

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