Key Details
The RBI’s 2025–26 survey cycle combines two institutional reporting exercises that feed directly into India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) and International Investment Position (IIP) statistics, while marking the phased shift from spreadsheet-based reporting to the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS).
Survey Component | Coverage / Requirement |
|---|---|
IT/ITES Survey | Software exporters, BPO and IT-enabled service firms |
Mutual Fund FLA Survey | Mutual funds’ foreign liabilities and offshore assets |
Submission Deadlines | July 15, 2026 (IT/ITES); July 7, 2026 (Mutual Funds) |
New Reporting Platform | CIMS web portal with automated validation checks |
Legacy System | Excel-based reporting to close after current cycle |
Statistical Use | Supports BoP, IIP, and external-sector statistics |
Summary
Twin Surveys Supporting India’s External Accounts
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched the 2025–26 rounds of two annual institutional surveys that support the compilation of India’s official external-sector statistics. These comprise the Survey on Computer Software and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) Exports and the Survey on Foreign Liabilities and Assets (FLA) of Mutual Funds.
Together, the surveys provide critical inputs for measuring cross-border services exports, external asset holdings, and institutional financial exposures. Their aggregated findings feed directly into India’s Balance of Payments (BoP)accounts and International Investment Position (IIP) balance sheet, making them an important part of the country’s external-sector statistical architecture.
Reporting Requirements and Institutional Timelines
The two surveys follow separate reporting tracks based on sectoral coverage and regulatory requirements.
The IT/ITES survey applies to software exporters, BPO firms, and IT-enabled service providers, collecting updated information on computer-service exports and related foreign exchange earnings. The Mutual Fund FLA survey, meanwhile, requires domestic asset managers to report their foreign liabilities and offshore asset positions as of end-March 2026.
The RBI has fixed the submission deadlines at July 15, 2026 for IT/ITES entities and July 7, 2026 for mutual funds. Survey formats and reporting schedules remain available in both English and Hindi to support wider compliance across institutions.
Transition to the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS)
The 2025–26 cycle also marks a significant technological shift in the RBI’s reporting infrastructure through the rollout of the Centralised Information Management System (CIMS).
For the current round, the RBI is operating a dual workflow in which entities continue receiving communications through the legacy email–Excel system while simultaneously migrating to the web-based CIMS portal. Reporting institutions must create portal credentials, complete online schedules, and submit returns through forms embedded with automated consistency checks and instant acknowledgement systems.
The RBI has confirmed that the spreadsheet-based reporting model will be fully decommissioned after this cycle, establishing CIMS as the sole reporting gateway going forward. The shift is intended to improve data reliability, reduce manual reporting errors, and accelerate the production of external-sector statistics.
What is the “Centralised Information Management System” (CIMS)?
The Centralised Information Management System (CIMS) is the RBI’s integrated digital platform for collecting and processing regulatory and statistical returns.
Unlike legacy reporting models based on email attachments and spreadsheets, CIMS uses web-based forms with embedded validation rules, allowing reporting errors and inconsistencies to be identified before final submission. This creates a cleaner and more reliable macroeconomic database while reducing manual verification workloads.
Policy Relevance
The RBI’s shift toward CIMS reflects a broader modernisation of India’s economic-statistics infrastructure, strengthening the reliability and speed of external-sector monitoring.
Improves Data Quality for External Accounts: Automated validation checks reduce reporting inconsistencies affecting BoP and IIP calculations.
Strengthens Visibility Over Services Exports: Updated IT/ITES reporting provides clearer estimates of India’s globally competitive digital-services sector.
Enhances Monitoring of Cross-Border Financial Exposure: Mutual fund FLA filings improve oversight of offshore investment patterns and external vulnerabilities.
Enables Faster Policy Response During Market Volatility: Cleaner and timelier data strengthens macroeconomic surveillance and exchange-rate management.
Reduces Compliance Friction Through Digital Reporting: Moving away from spreadsheets lowers administrative burden while improving reporting discipline.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: Given the planned closure of legacy reporting systems after this cycle, how can the RBI and the Department of Economic Affairs leverage validated CIMS data to develop early-warning indicators for external-sector and portfolio-risk concentrations?
Follow the Full News Here:
RBI launches the Survey on Foreign Liabilities and Assets of Mutual Funds: 2025-26 round