Stop routing foreign currency transactions via US to avoid fees: Consultants

New Delhi: A grouping of consultants and service providers in the country has urged the finance ministry to stop routing foreign currency deals in India via the US banking system to avoid transaction fees and save foreign currency. At present, a transaction fee is levied on transactions in US dollars done from one exchange earners foreign currency account to another within the country, Intercontinental Consultants and Technocrats (ICT) Chairman K K Kapila said in a statement.

By routing the transactions through the American banking system, the country is losing substantial money, which is going to the Americans as transaction costs, he said.

"To my mind, as long as we are transacting in US Dollars within India, there should be no transaction cost payable to the US," he added.