Is forex trading legal in India?
Yes, in one specific form, and no in the form most people mean when they ask. The governing statute is the Foreign Exchange Management Act 1999. Sections 3 and 5 restrict dealing in foreign exchange to transactions through an Authorised Person, subject to the current-account rules.
Table 1 — What is and is not permitted
| Activity | Status |
|---|---|
| Exchange-traded currency futures and options on NSE, BSE or MSE through a SEBI-registered broker | Permitted |
| Currency derivatives through an AD Category-I bank | Permitted |
| Retail OTC, margin or leveraged spot forex with an offshore broker | Not permitted |
| CFDs on any asset with an offshore broker | Not permitted |
| Remitting margin abroad under the LRS | Expressly excluded |
Which currency pairs can you actually trade?
Source: RBI Master Direction on Risk Management and Inter-Bank Dealings. Contract specifications should be confirmed on the NSE, BSE or MSE product pages before trading — those pages did not render during our checks.
Table 2 — Permitted exchange-traded currency contracts
| Type | Pairs |
|---|---|
| INR pairs — futures and options | USD-INR, EUR-INR, GBP-INR, JPY-INR |
| Cross-currency — futures and options | EUR-USD, GBP-USD, USD-JPY |
The RBI Alert List
The Reserve Bank publishes a list of entities “neither authorised to deal in forex under FEMA… nor authorised to operate electronic trading platform (ETP) for forex transactions”. As at 19 November 2025 it held 95 entities.
Names on the list include several of the best-known international brokers — among them Exness, XM, Pepperstone, eToro, AvaTrade, IC Markets, FXCM and IG Markets, alongside “MetaTrader 4/5” itself. We carry no referral links on this page for that reason. The RBI adds an important caveat: “This list is not exhaustive. An entity not appearing in the list should not be assumed to be authorised by the RBI.”