Chennai, July 27 (IANS) Banks in India should adopt the electronic bank realisation certificate (EBRC) scheme to reduce the transaction costs for exporters, said a top government official.
"The software glitches which were initially there have been sorted out. The manual issuance of bank realisation certificates would be dispensed from Aug 16 onwards," said union Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao at a meet with the exporters organised by Federation of Indian Exports Organisation and Confederation of Indian Industry here Friday.
The EBRC system involves transmission of documents and details about foreign exchange realizations on exports by banks to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
According to DGFT chief Anup K. Pujari, the electronic system would reduce paper work and would be useful for small exporters by establishing seamless connectivity with DGFT for the exporters to claim benefits under different schemes.
He said only 14 banks have migrated to the new system and other banks are being requested to adopt the new system.
Speaking about the free trade agreement (FTA) with European Union (EU), Russia and Pakistan, Rao said the process for EU agreement will be completed this year while it will begin this year as regards Russia.
He said as regards the trade arrangement with Pakistan, a few steps have to be finalised and a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart has been slated next month.
