Overview
- SEBI released a consultation paper on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, proposing that individual investors resident outside India complete KYC and account onboarding digitally from their country of residence.
- The draft would allow e-signatures and remove the current requirement for intermediaries to capture a client's India-based latitude and longitude, while limiting the relaxation to investors located in FATF‑compliant countries to preserve anti‑money‑laundering checks.
- Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath publicly welcomed the proposal and said the current onboarding process forces many NRIs to be physically present in India or use time‑consuming international couriering and paperwork.
- Kamath and broker data cited by him say Zerodha serves more than 50,000 NRI clients with about 80% active, and they argue faster digital onboarding could expand this stickier pool of overseas capital and ease pressure on the rupee if inflows are large and steady.
- The proposal is at the consultation stage and not final; regulators must still weigh operational detail and AML/CFT safeguards before any rule change and previous SEBI reforms that eased PIS requirements and broadened NRO Non‑PIS account access will shape how quickly the changes take effect.