An engineer in London finishes dinner and finally has time to look at flats back home. He sends your project an enquiry at 8 pm his time. In Bengaluru it’s past midnight. By the time your team calls in the morning, he’s at work and can’t pick up.
An NRI buyer is easy to lose to the time zone alone. This guide shows when their evening falls in India time, a flow that works across the gap, and the questions they ask, with RBI’s answers.
In short, NRI buyers enquire in their own evening, which is often late night or early morning in India. Reply on WhatsApp at once, at any hour. Book the call for a time that suits both sides, and have the answers on buying rules, payment and loans ready, with the source.
When an NRI buyer’s evening falls in India time
| Buyer in | Their 7 pm is, in India |
|---|---|
| UAE (UTC+4) | 8:30 pm |
| Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait (UTC+3) | 9:30 pm |
| Singapore (UTC+8) | 4:30 pm |
| UK, winter (GMT) | 12:30 am, next day |
| UK, summer (BST) | 11:30 pm |
| US East, winter (EST) | 5:30 am, next day |
| US West, winter (PST) | 8:30 am, next day |
India has no daylight saving. The UK and US move their clocks, so the gap changes by an hour twice a year (UK clock changes).
The chart shows the problem. Evenings in Singapore and the Gulf overlap with India’s calling hours, at least in part. A UK buyer’s evening falls after them, and a US buyer’s falls in India’s night or morning. A reply that waits for your office to open can miss them.
A flow for NRI enquiries that works across time zones
- Reply on WhatsApp within minutes, whatever the hour in India.
- Send the brochure, price sheet and a virtual tour or walkthrough video.
- Offer a video call with your NRI desk at a time inside both working days.
- Send the answers below as documents they can forward to family in India.
- Book the site visit for their next trip, or for a family member.
The questions NRI buyers ask
RBI answers the first three of these directly. Keep the answers ready, with the link, so your team never has to guess.
| Question | The short answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Can I buy? | NRIs and OCIs can buy property in India, such as homes and offices. Agricultural land, plantation property and farm houses are excluded. | RBI FAQ |
| How do I pay? | Through banking channels: money sent from abroad, or from an NRE, FCNR(B) or NRO account. Not in travellers’ cheques or foreign currency notes. | RBI Master Direction |
| Can I get a home loan? | Yes. Banks and approved housing finance companies can lend in rupees to NRIs, on the same terms as residents, secured on the property. | RBI Master Direction, section 4 |
| What tax is deducted? | It depends on the price and on who is selling. Ask your tax adviser. | – |
| Can someone sign for me? | Ask your legal team about a power of attorney. | – |
Can you call an NRI buyer?
A call to a foreign number follows that country’s rules and hours, not only India’s. Intend judges calling hours by the country of the number it dials. A buyer on a UAE number is called in UAE hours. A buyer abroad on an Indian number is treated as being in India, so the call goes between 10 am and 9 pm India time.
How Intend helps
Intend replies to NRI buyers on WhatsApp in their evening, sends the tour and the cost sheet, and books the call with your NRI desk.
A small change that helps
Look at last month’s NRI enquiries and note the hour each one arrived, in the buyer’s own time. If most came in after your office closed, the first reply is the thing to fix.
The WhatsApp side of this is covered in from click-to-WhatsApp ad to site visit, and what Intend does for developers is on Intend for real estate developers.
Sources
- RBI, FAQs on acquisition and transfer of immovable property in India by NRIs and OCIs
- RBI, Master Direction: Acquisition or Transfer of Immovable Property under FEMA, 1999
- RBI, Master Direction: Borrowing and Lending in Indian Rupee between residents and NRIs/PIOs (housing loans, section 4)
- GOV.UK, When do the clocks change?
A plain summary as of the date above, not legal or tax advice.