SBI EDF: request letter and what to submit

State Bank of India hasn't made its own EDF template. What it has published is a customer guide that lists what to hand over, and the first item on that list is a request letter "in the bank's standard format". The format itself isn't on SBI's website. This guide covers SBI EDF filing for service exporters: what the guide asks for, what goes in the letter, and how to put the pack together.

What SBI has published

Two documents, both from the end of September 2026:

• SBI's Policy on Export and Import of Goods and Services, issued 28 September 2026.
• A customer guide to export, import and merchanting trade transactions, dated 30 September 2026. Section 4 covers exports, and the annex has the document checklists.

Both repeat RBI's rule. An exporter of services files an EDF for the full export value within 30 days from the end of the month the invoice was raised in.

The guide also spells out something software firms should note. Software delivered online, whether by download, cloud or other digital delivery, counts as an export and needs an EDF.

What to submit to SBI

SBI's checklist for services asks for five things:

1. A request letter in the bank's standard format, with FEMA declarations.
2. The service agreement or statement of work.
3. The invoices.
4. The EDF.
5. Proof the service was delivered: a delivery, milestone or usage record.

Number five is the one to plan for. The guide doesn't prescribe a document, so think about what you already have each month. A client's sign-off on a milestone, a delivery note, a usage report from your platform. File it with that month's invoices so it's there when the branch asks.

The SBI EDF request letter

SBI wants the letter in its standard format with FEMA declarations, and doesn't publish a template. Your branch may have a printed one, so ask first. If it does, use it.

If it doesn't, look at what HDFC put in its published request letter, because the RBI form drives the same contents at every bank:

• your firm's name, address, PAN, IEC and GSTIN, and the account to be credited
• a request to process the EDF for the month's export of services
• a table of invoices (client, country, invoice number, date, currency, amount)
• the FEMA declaration and undertaking, and an OFAC declaration
• authority to debit the bank's charges from your account
• the list of enclosures, and a signature

The EDF form for SBI

There's no separate SBI layout, so you use the RBI form: Part 1 about you, Part 2B with a block for each client and their invoices, and Part 4 for your declaration. Part 5 is for the bank. Our field-by-field guide to the EDF form explains every box.

Software exporters at SBI

SOFTEX is gone. Under the 2026 rules, software exports are declared on the same EDF, and the certifying authority in Part 5 can be your AD bank or STPI. If you used to file SOFTEX through STPI, ask SBI and STPI which route they expect from October.

Questions to ask your SBI branch

Banks are still settling their processes, so a short email to your branch saves a wasted trip:

• Do you have a printed request letter format, or should I bring my own?
• Email, portal or branch: how do you want the EDF submitted?
• What counts as proof of delivery for my kind of service?
• Do you want one EDF for the whole month, or one per client?

Get the answers in writing. They're your record if anything is questioned later.

Putting the SBI pack together

Ratify EDF has SBI in its bank list. Pick it, type in the month's invoices, and you get the RBI form filled in, plus a request letter and annexure carrying the FEMA and OFAC declarations, the realisation undertaking, the charges authority and the enclosures list. You add the agreement, the invoices and your proof of delivery. It's free and works in your browser.

If your branch gives you its own letter format, send it to us through "My bank's template" on the site and we'll build it in.

October 2026 invoices are due by 30 November 2026. After that, every month's EDF is due 30 days after the month ends. The money itself has a separate clock: it has to reach India within 9 months of the invoice date, or 12 months if you invoice in rupees.

Researched 9 October 2026, from SBI's customer guide on export, import and merchanting trade transactions (30 September 2026) and its export-import policy (28 September 2026). The checklist was read from excerpts of the guide; check the annex in the PDF before relying on the exact list.