🇮🇳 NRO Account · Non-Resident Ordinary
The NRO account — for income you earn in India
Updated May 2026
For rent, dividends, pension or any rupee income earned inside India. Required if you own property and receive rent. Can be held jointly with a resident Indian.
How NRO actually works
- Repatriation capped at $1M per financial year after taxes (use Form 15CA + 15CB to remit)
- Interest subject to 30% TDS (tax deducted at source); reconcile via your Indian ITR
- Required if you own property and receive rent
- Can be held jointly with a resident Indian (spouse, parent, sibling)
- Minimum balance: usually ₹10,000 monthly avg even at zero-balance NRE banks. SBI: ₹3,000 quarterly metro. NRO is rarely zero-balance because banks expect rupee inflow activity.
Who can open one
Same eligibility as NRE: Indian passport holders living abroad (no OCI needed) · Foreign passport holders of Indian origin (need OCI). Most NRIs hold both NRE + NRO at the same bank as a combo account.
The $1M / Form 15CA-15CB trap
Repatriating money OUT of NRO (back to your overseas account) is not automatic. You need a Chartered Accountant to issue Form 15CB (certifies taxes are paid), then file Form 15CA online with the bank. The $1M cap is per financial year, NOT per transaction. Bank fees for this paperwork: typically ₹1,000–₹3,000 per remittance. This is why foreign income belongs in NRE, not NRO.
Best for NRO: HDFC Bank — strong branch network for property income, easy joint-with-resident setup
Open HDFC NRO →
Which bank to open NRO at?
For property income or joint-with-resident, branch density matters. The 5-question selector matches you based on rent collection city + joint-account needs.
Up next
Step 3 of 5 — KYC documents
PAN card, passport, OCI card, address proof. What's required for online NRO opening.
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