At present a transaction fee is levied on US dollars transactions within the country.
For example, a payment in US dollars from Delhi to even nearby Faridabad from one entity to the other in the current dispensation, is required to be undertaken through the US banking system.
“This should be undertaken directly through the Reserve Bank of India and there should be no requirement of routing them through the American Banking system.
“By routing the transactions through the American Banking system, the country is losing substantial money, which is going to the Americans towards transaction costs,” ambassador for Asia-Pacific region for the International Federation of Consulting Engineers K K Kapila said in a statement.
Kapila pointed out that a small country like the Philippines does not route its internal foreign exchange transactions through the United States.
“If the Philippines can do it, why not India? ” he said, adding “this needs an urgent correction, lest we continue to lose every single day. If it is part of some Trade Agreement, it needs an urgent relook. Let this be addressed on top priority.”
According to him, the consultants and the service sector demanded that such deals involving foreign currencies such as the US dollar in the country should be routed through the Reserve Bank of India.