You can send money from the UAE to India through your UAE bank’s India remittance service, a licensed exchange house, or a remittance app such as Remitly. Several UAE banks publish a zero transfer fee and a stated limit for India, but no route is right for everyone: what decides the cost is how many rupees arrive for your dirhams.
Below are the fees, limits and timing five UAE banks publish for India, what “free” does and does not mean, and what RBI’s new crediting rule changes. Moving money the other way? See our guide to transferring money from India to the UAE.
UAE bank routes to India: published fees and limits
Each of these is a service for the bank’s own customers, used through its app or online banking. The table shows what each bank publishes; it is listed alphabetically, not ranked.
| Route | Published transfer fee | Published limit | What the bank says about timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADCB India Online | Not published; India Online is not named in ADCB’s schedule of fees effective 1 September 2026 | Not published | “Instant credit to Axis, Kotak Mahindra, ICICI and HDFC accounts”; money “credited to 190 other banks and branches within 5 minutes” |
| Emirates NBD DirectRemit | Zero | INR 1,000,000 (India, all banks); minimum AED 100; daily limit depends on your banking package | “Near real time” |
| FAB instant transfer | Zero transfer fees | Up to INR 1,500,000 per transaction, within FAB’s limits of AED 100,000 a day and AED 450,000 a month | “Within 60 minutes”; “Reserve Bank of India, IMPS and NEFT timings and limits apply” |
| Mashreq Quick Remit | Zero fees, as “a limited period offer”; Mashreq says “Fees can be revised without prior notice” | AED 100,000 per transaction; AED 7,000 per transaction for the first 6 hours after adding a new beneficiary | Instant below INR 200,000 to IMPS-connected banks; above INR 200,000 or to non-IMPS banks, “credited in 60 minutes” |
| RAKBANK RAKMoneyTransfer | AED 5.25, 10.50 or 15.75, depending on the amount (Service & Price Guide V012026) | Minimum AED 100 online; maximum depends on your account or card; destination limits may apply | No India-specific time published |
The conditions behind the headline numbers:
- Emirates NBD says DirectRemit is for personal transactions only and the recipient must already be saved as a beneficiary. If the bank needs more information, the transfer is processed through its regular international transfer service instead.
- FAB says its instant remittances are for person-to-person transfers only (“Any transfers to corporate entity may be rejected”) and the beneficiary account must be in INR. It also warns that international transfers are subject to statutory risk checks and can take longer than indicated.
- Mashreq says Quick Remit has “no correspondent bank charges and deduction from receive amount”. If a transfer is delayed for technical reasons, it says the transfer will be processed within 1 working day.
- RAKBANK says account credit to major countries is instant and other destinations typically complete the same or the next working day, but times can vary because of enhanced screening or regulatory checks by correspondent banks.
- ADCB lists India Online on its money transfer page but publishes no fee or limit for it, so check both in the app before you send.
These banks also offer standard international (SWIFT) transfers to India, with different fees, and correspondent banks may deduct charges along the way; FAB, for example, says SWIFT transactions “may incur a correspondent banking fee”. Our bank guides cover the details: FAB, ADCB, Emirates NBD, Mashreq and RAKBANK.
Exchange houses and apps
Licensed exchange houses and remittance apps such as Remitly also send money from the UAE to India. Their fees, exchange rates and payout options are not covered in this guide, so ask each one for the same three things before you pay: the rupees your recipient will receive, the fee, and the expected delivery time. Check that any provider you use is licensed to operate in the UAE.
An exchange house or app can make sense if you do not bank with one of the banks above, if your amount is above a bank route’s limit, or if your recipient wants a payout method the bank route does not offer. Ask which payout methods the provider offers for India before you choose.
Free online money transfer to India: what “zero fee” means
Emirates NBD DirectRemit, FAB’s instant transfers and Mashreq Quick Remit (as a limited-period offer) all publish a zero transfer fee for India. That is a real saving on the fee, but it is not the whole cost.
Every transfer also uses an exchange rate that the provider sets. A provider can charge no fee and still deliver fewer rupees than one that charges a fee but applies a better rate. A hypothetical example, with made-up numbers far from the real rate:
- Provider A: no fee, and pays 10.00 rupees per dirham. AED 1,000 delivers 10,000 rupees.
- Provider B: AED 15 fee, and pays 10.20 rupees per dirham. The remaining AED 985 delivers 10,047 rupees.
In this made-up case the zero-fee option delivers less. The point is the method, not the numbers: compare the rupees that arrive for the same amount of dirhams, on the same day.
On standard SWIFT transfers, correspondent banks can also deduct charges, which reduces what arrives. Mashreq says Quick Remit has no such deductions, while FAB says its SWIFT transactions may incur a correspondent banking fee. Compare options on our AED to INR page, then confirm the final amount in the provider’s app before you pay.
Maximum limit for a money transfer from the UAE to India
There is no single limit. Each route publishes its own, and your account type or banking package can lower it. From the banks’ own pages:
- Emirates NBD DirectRemit: INR 1,000,000 shown for India; the daily limit depends on your banking package and transaction limit.
- FAB: up to INR 1,500,000 per instant transaction, within FAB’s general limits of AED 100,000 a day and AED 450,000 a month (“Transfers above this limit within 30 days will not be processed”).
- Mashreq Quick Remit: AED 100,000 per transaction, and AED 7,000 per transaction in the first 6 hours after you add a new beneficiary.
- RAKBANK: minimum AED 100 online; the maximum depends on your account or card, and destination-specific limits may apply.
- ADCB India Online: no published limit.
India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme limit of USD 250,000 per financial year applies to resident individuals sending money out of India. It is not a cap on money you send into India from the UAE.
For a large amount, expect the bank to ask for more information; Emirates NBD, for example, says it “may require more information for some transfers”.
How fast money reaches India, and RBI’s new crediting rule
Each bank describes its own timing, with conditions. FAB says “within 60 minutes”, with RBI IMPS and NEFT timings and limits applying; Mashreq says instant below INR 200,000 to IMPS-connected banks and within 60 minutes otherwise; Emirates NBD says “near real time”. These are the banks’ descriptions, not guarantees, and screening or extra checks can add time.
On the India side, an RBI notification dated 9 April 2026 (RBI/2026-27/08) tells Indian banks to inform customers of incoming cross-border payments immediately on receipt of the inward message. It also says banks “shall endeavour” to credit payments received during foreign exchange market hours to the beneficiary’s account the same business day, and those received after market hours on the next business day, subject to FEMA and other regulatory requirements.
These directions take effect six months from the date of the notification, which by our calculation is around 9 October 2026; RBI does not give a calendar date. “Endeavour” sets a target for Indian banks, not a promise to you, so use the delivery time your provider quotes. Where your route is not instant, your UAE bank’s working days and cut-offs also apply, and the UAE’s official weekend is Saturday and Sunday.
What you need from your recipient in India
- Their name exactly as their bank holds it, to avoid delays.
- Their bank account details, in the form your bank or provider asks for. The beneficiary form in the app shows exactly which details India needs.
- An INR account. FAB, for example, requires the beneficiary bank account to be in INR.
- Time to set them up as a beneficiary. Emirates NBD requires the recipient to be listed as a beneficiary before you use DirectRemit, and Mashreq caps new beneficiaries at AED 7,000 per transaction for the first 6 hours.
If your recipient would rather receive the money to a UPI ID, check whether your provider offers that payout option before you send; this guide does not cover UPI payouts.
Best way to transfer money from the UAE to India: how to choose
There is no single best way for everyone. The right route depends on where you already bank, how much you send, and how your recipient wants to receive it. A cheap transfer is simply the one that delivers the most rupees for your dirhams once the fee and the exchange rate are both counted. To choose:
- Start with the bank you already use. If it has an India route in the table above, check the fee, limit and timing it shows in the app.
- Get at least one more quote for the same amount at the same time, from another bank route, an exchange house or an app.
- Compare the rupees that arrive, not the fee.
- Check that the limit fits your amount, including any limit on a new beneficiary.
- Confirm the final amount, fee and delivery time in the app before you pay, and keep the transaction reference.