Reports of ED, RBI action against delay in remittances cause panic among exporters: EEPC India

The Association News Dec 19, 2018 198 0

Reports that the RBI is contemplating to forward cases of non-realization of export proceeds to the Enforcement Directorate have created an avoidable panic even among genuine exporters who have submitted their records about remittance receipts with their banks, EEPC India said.

"We have received several complaints from our members about the banks not issuing documents about the remittance receipts even after submission of all the required papers. Thus, exporters are facing a double whammy- losing refunds like drawbacks and the possibility of ED action," Chairman of the apex engineering exporters' body Mr. Ravi Sehgal said in a statement.

He said while the EEPC India has been regularly advising its members to reconcile their remittances records , several banks are not issuing the clearances , especially with regard to shipments to countries like Syria,Iran and Sudan etc.

He said, at a time when exports are facing global headwinds like the slowdown in the US economy, the uncertainty of Brexit and the trade war between the US and China, the RBI and the government should be dealing with issues like remittances in a friendly manner.

"In any case, it is in the interest of exporters to get their remittances in as quickly as possible. It is in rare cases that there may be the temptation of foreign exchange arbitrage which could even result into losses. So, the problem seems to be more of procedures and should be treated like that, Mr. Sehgal said.

He said India's overall merchandise exports remained static, logging in less than one percent growth in November this year. "The last thing our exporters want is the procedural hassle and any enforcement action," the EEPC India Chairman said.