How to get FIRC or bank evidence for a service-export GST refund

Find the receipt date, amount and transaction reference, then ask the processing bank or payment provider for the corresponding remittance evidence. If you need an official electronic Bank Realisation Certificate (eBRC), use the DGFT route below.

For service-export refund claims, the evidence requirement includes invoice details and the relevant Bank Realisation Certificates (BRC) or Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates (FIRC). Receiving consideration in convertible foreign exchange, or INR where permitted by the RBI, is one condition of an export of services. A local INR credit alone does not establish that condition. CBIC Circular 125/44/2019-GST, paragraph 48.

Check what your existing document proves

A bank statement helps locate the credit. It may omit the original remitter, foreign currency, purpose or overseas leg of the transaction. Keep it as supporting evidence and identify what is still missing.

Document names also vary. ICICI Bank, for example, describes FIRC for specified investment remittances and Bank Inward Remittance Certificate (BIRC) for export proceeds and other remittances. ICICI Bank’s remittance certificate FAQ.

BRC, BIRC, FIRC and FIRA are not automatically interchangeable for your claim. Ask the issuer what its document establishes and whether additional realisation evidence is available. Have your preparer check the actual document against the refund requirement. Do not rename a remittance advice “FIRC” or enter an invented certificate number to pass validation.

The content of the document matters more than its title. The Kerala High Court held that an officer should not reject a bank’s “advice of foreign inward remittance” in a deficiency memo because of its title, without examining whether it shows the receipt and the amounts (checked 22 October 2026). ABE Service, 10 July 2026, paragraph 10.

Find who can issue the missing document

Payment route	First action
Foreign wire received directly by your bank	Ask its inward-remittance or trade team to trace the receipt and issue the available evidence.
Payment platform sent an INR settlement	Ask the platform which bank processed the foreign-exchange leg and how to obtain that bank’s evidence.
Your branch sees only a domestic transfer	Give it the platform reference and request the processing-bank details; raise the same query with the platform.

For PayPal, Payoneer, Stripe, Upwork and AdSense, see the remittance document each platform issues.

Wise illustrates why the route matters. For eligible business INR transfers, its instructions require the recipient to obtain a sender’s NOC and approach the partner bank named in it for FIRA. Receipts through Wise business account details have a separate e-FIRC process. Follow the instructions for the transfer you actually received. Wise’s FIRC/FIRA instructions.

Can I generate an official eBRC myself?

Yes, through DGFT’s prescribed process using bank-reported remittances. The bank uploads an Inward Remittance Message (IRM); the exporter matches it to the export records and self-certifies the eBRC. In DGFT, open Services → eBRC → Generate e-BRC, choose the applicable service category and complete the required invoice/SOFTEX and remittance details. Check deductions and amounts already used before certifying. If an expected IRM is missing or incorrect, ask the reporting bank to resolve it. DGFT: exporter eBRC manual.

An official self-certified eBRC is different from an invented certificate. It is an available evidence route, not a requirement that every service exporter obtain both eBRC and FIRC.

From 1 October 2026, you also declare your service exports to your bank in an Export Declaration Form (EDF) each month. The EDF is not a BRC or FIRC; RBI’s new directions to banks also withdrew its 2017 circular on issuing eBRCs without restating it. If an eBRC you expect does not appear, ask the bank for its own certificate (checked 22 October 2026). See the Export Declaration Form for service exports.

Send one request with a receipt list

For each missing receipt, include:

• Credit date, amount and currency; separately show the INR amount credited.
• UTR, SWIFT reference or payment-provider transaction reference.
• Customer/remitter name and any payment platform involved.
• Related export invoice numbers and copies if requested.
• Known fees, withholding or unexplained differences.

Use the bank’s secure service channel for account information. You can adapt this request:

Please provide the available bank-issued realisation/remittance evidence for the export-service receipts listed below, for GST refund preparation. Please confirm the document type, reference and date, remitter, original currency and amount, conversion and charges where available. If another bank processed the foreign-exchange leg, please identify it and explain how to request its evidence. Please confirm any fee, supporting documents needed and expected issue date.

Keep the service-request number and reply. If the request is redirected, record the responsible bank/team and the missing document against that receipt.

Check the document before using it

Compare the issued reference, date, remitter, currency and amount with the bank entry and provider report. Record the certificate date separately from the payment date. If the payer shown is a platform or collection agent, retain the settlement report that connects it to the customer invoice. Ask the issuer to correct a factual error; do not alter its PDF yourself.

Then build an invoice-to-receipt working schedule:

Situation	What to record
One receipt pays several invoices	Keep the receipt once; allocate its amount across the invoices without exceeding the receipt total.
One invoice receives several payments	Keep each receipt and reference separately, with a running unpaid balance.
The customer has paid only part	Show the amount supported by receipts and the amount still outstanding. Do not mark the full invoice realised.
The bank credit is lower than the invoice	Separate fees, currency conversion, withholding, credit notes and any unpaid amount; obtain evidence for each difference.

The net INR bank credit is not automatically the export invoice value or the correct realised amount for the refund calculation. Equally, a deduction cannot automatically be added back as realised proceeds. Retain the invoice, gross remittance evidence and deduction breakdown so your preparer can determine the supported treatment.

If no FIRC or BRC can be obtained

CBIC’s list of documents for an ITC refund on exports of services names BRC or FIRC. Circular 125/44/2019-GST, Annexure A. Courts have accepted other proof where it established that payment was received in foreign exchange (checked 22 October 2026):

• FIRAs, eBRCs and a CA certificate. The Karnataka High Court quashed orders that set aside a service exporter’s refund because FIRCs had not been filed with the application. FIRAs, eBRCs and a CA certificate reconciled to the FIRAs established the receipt. Nokia Solutions and Networks India, 22 August 2024. It applied the same reasoning in a later refund case. Mavenir Systems, 6 November 2025.
• A CA certificate for net receipts. The Gujarat High Court directed a refund to be processed without insisting on FIRCs, accepting a CA certificate for the net foreign exchange received under an RBI approval. Kuehne + Nagel, order of 6 November 2025, which reproduces the earlier order of 26 March 2025. Yash Dhanuka posted the earlier ruling on X.
• Bank certificates. In a demand case, the Karnataka High Court sent the matter back so that bank certificates of the remittances could be considered in place of FIRCs. Emisha Technology Solutions, 23 June 2026.

These rulings corrected a rejection or demand after it was made. Get the bank’s evidence or an official eBRC first. Where that is not possible, file the alternative evidence with the claim, with a note that reconciles each receipt to its invoices, instead of waiting for the officer to ask. The GST Council has also recommended a circular on receiving export payments in foreign exchange or Indian rupees; check whether it has been issued. See the Council’s refund changes.

Move the verified evidence into Statement 3

The GST manual requires unique BRC/FIRC details as separate rows for services. The invoice allocation schedule above is a preparation record; it is not a requirement to repeat the full receipt for every invoice in the upload. Enter the certificates in the BRC/FIRC list of the JSON generator, or in the offline utility following its current Read Me. GST Statement 3 instructions.

Use the Statement 3 worked example to see the invoice records, bank evidence and upload entries together. For a shorter exercise with two invoices and two receipts, open the reconciliation example and downloadable working sheet.

Record each missing certificate or mismatch beside its receipt and keep the bank’s response with that row. Use the Statement 3 preparation checklist to finish the hand-off.