What is Bank Charges (OUR/SHA/BEN)?
When a foreign client sends you money by SWIFT wire, the payment can pass through several banks: the client's bank, one or more intermediary or correspondent banks, and your bank in India. Each may take a fee. The payment instruction includes a charges code that says who bears these fees.
OUR means the sender pays all charges, so in principle you receive the full amount. SHA means charges are shared: the sender pays its own bank's fee, and intermediary and receiving bank fees come out of the amount sent to you. BEN means the beneficiary bears everything, so all fees are deducted from your payment. Even with OUR, an intermediary deduction occasionally still happens.
Why it matters for exporters
Bank charges directly affect how much of your invoice you actually realise. Part 2B of the EDF asks for both the invoice amount and the net realisable value (NRV) for each invoice. If you invoice USD 5,000 and expect around USD 30 to be lost to fees on a SHA transfer, the money credited to your account will be less than the invoice. When the bank matches the payment in EDPMS, small differences caused by bank charges are a common feature. Keep the SWIFT message or bank advice showing the deductions, and ask your AD bank how it wants charges reflected.
The cleanest fix is commercial: state the charges code you expect, often OUR or SHA, in your quotation and invoice.
Example
Bright Pixel Studio invoices a Sydney client AUD 6,000. The client pays with SHA. An intermediary deducts AUD 25 and Bright Pixel's bank credits AUD 5,975, converted to ₹3,29,000. The FIRA shows the deduction. Bright Pixel keeps it with the invoice for EDPMS matching and, next time, writes "All bank charges outside India to be borne by the remitter (OUR)" on its export invoice.
Common confusion
Bank charges are not the same as forex markup, which is hidden in the exchange rate. See bank charges deducted abroad and net realisable value.