P0304 Purpose Code: Travel for medical treatment including TCs purchased by hospitals

Purpose code P0304 is used when an Indian hospital or healthcare provider receives payment from a patient travelling to India for treatment.

What is the P0304 purpose code?

Purpose code P0304 covers money Indian healthcare providers receive from patients who travel here for treatment. The travel group separates receipts by the traveller's purpose, and this is the medical entry in that set, sitting alongside business travel and education. The parenthetical names hospitals directly and refers to travellers cheques taken at the point of care, so the code covers both money handed over on arrival and payment wired ahead of it. What places a receipt here is why the patient travelled, not which currency or channel the money came through. Under RBI FEMA guidelines, this inward payment is classified under Travel and reported accordingly.

When to use P0304 purpose code?

Use P0304 when your hospital or healthcare business is paid by a patient who has travelled to India for treatment. It is the correct RBI receipt code whether the money arrives as foreign currency at the counter, as travellers cheques, or as a transfer sent in advance of the visit. The traveller's purpose is what settles it, so a patient's companion paying for their own accommodation is a general travel receipt rather than a medical one.

When to use a different code:

• Use P0301 when the receipt is a general travel receipt rather than payment for treatment
• Use P0305 when the travel is for education
• Use the matching S-code when you are paying a foreign vendor rather than receiving money

Who typically uses P0304 purpose code

Indian hospitals, clinics and healthcare providers treating patients who come from abroad, along with the medical travel facilitators and coordinators who handle those arrangements. The description names hospitals specifically, since they are the point at which foreign currency is most often taken directly from a patient.

Examples of transactions covered under P0304 purpose code

• Payment wired from abroad by a patient ahead of a scheduled procedure in India
• Foreign currency taken at a hospital from an overseas patient settling their bill
• Travellers cheques accepted by a hospital against treatment charges
• A deposit received from a patient's family abroad before admission

When NOT to use P0304 purpose code

• The receipt is a general travel receipt from a visitor rather than payment for treatment (use P0301)
• The travel is for education rather than medical treatment (use P0305)
• The travel is undertaken for business (use P0302)
• You are paying a foreign vendor rather than receiving (use the matching S-code)

Documents required for P0304 purpose code

To receive a payment under P0304, keep the following documents ready so your bank or platform can verify the transaction and report it correctly under FEMA.

• Treatment estimate or invoice - Sets out the charges being paid and identifies the patient the payment relates to
• Encashment record where foreign currency or travellers cheques were taken - Evidences what was accepted and from whom
• Purpose declaration form - The inward remittance form where the purpose of funds is formally stated
• KYC documents (if requested) - Used to verify your hospital or business during onboarding or compliance checks
• The bank needs billing evidence rather than clinical records, so the invoice and estimate are what support the remittance, not the patient's medical file.

How is a P0304 Purpose Code declared?

Declaring the code is pretty straightforward. Here's how the payment gets tagged and reported.

1. Provide the treatment: Admit and treat the patient who has travelled to India for care.
2. Receive the payment: Take foreign currency or travellers cheques at the counter, or receive a transfer sent from abroad.
3. Declare the purpose: State the purpose of the inward remittance, on your bank's form or through your platform.
4. Submit supporting documents: Provide the treatment estimate or invoice and any encashment records so the bank can verify the transaction.
5. Get your FIRA: Once processed, your FIRA is issued as proof and the payment is reported under FEMA.
6. With a traditional bank you handle each step of your payment journey. But with a platform built for cross-border payments, you can preselect a default purpose code so that the payments land smooth.

Common mistakes to avoid while using P0304 purpose code

A few common slips can hold up your payment or cause compliance issues. Here's what to watch for.

1. Coding a companion's costs as medical travel: Applying P0304 to accommodation or general expenses paid by someone accompanying the patient, when those are general travel receipts under P0301.
2. Assuming the channel changes the code: Treating an advance wire differently from currency taken at the counter, when both report here and only the traveller's purpose matters.
3. Code and document mismatch: The code not matching what your invoice describes, which flags the payment.
4. Incomplete documents: Missing the treatment estimate or invoice, so the bank cannot establish what the money is for and holds funds until provided.
5. Missing PAN or KYC: Incomplete verification stops the bank from releasing the payment.
6. Using an inward code for an outward payment: Applying a receipt code to money you're sending out instead of the matching outward code.

How Skydo simplifies inward remittance under P0304 Purpose Code

With a bank, you declare the purpose code on your own for every single payment. With Skydo, you can preselect your code once and every payment gets tagged automatically.

1. Preselect the code once: Set P0304 as your default and Skydo tags every incoming payment for you, so there's no form to fill on each one.
2. No repeat declarations: A bank makes you restate the purpose for every remittance. Skydo does it in the background, the same way each time.
3. Instant, free FIRA: Your remittance proof is generated and stored on every payment, ready for your CA, GST, and audits, with no request and no fee.
4. Zero FX markup: You get the live mid-market rate with a flat, visible fee, instead of a markup hidden inside the bank's rate.
5. Settled in 24 hours: Your payment reaches your Indian bank within a day, fully reported and compliant.