Delhi HC grants 6 weeks to RBI to file reply on Uniform Banking Code

The Delhi High Court gave the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) six weeks extra time to reply to a Public Interest Lawsuit (PIL) seeking instruction to create a Unified Banking Code for foreign exchange transactions in order to limit black money production and benami transactions.

On Monday, a Bench of Judge Satish Chander Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad gave further time to counsel for the RBI to file a reply in the issue. The same had previously issued a notice to the RBI and others in response to a petition filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

According to the petition, it not only jeopardises India’s foreign exchange reserves, but it is also used to pay separatists, fundamentalists, Naxals, Maoists, terrorists, traitors, conversion mafias, and extremist groups. Earlier, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma testified on behalf of the Central Government and indicated that the arguments highlighted by the petitioner deserve careful attention.

Petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a practising lawyer and BJP politician, also requested that Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), and Instant Money Payment System (IMPS) not be utilised to deposit foreign currency in Indian banks.

The petitioner argued that whether a foreigner arrives in business class or economy class, on Air India or British Airways, or from the United States or Uganda, the immigration procedures for a visa remain the same.

Similarly, Upadhyay stated that deposit details in Indian banks, including foreign bank branches, must be in the same format regardless of whether it is an export payment in a current account, a salary in a savings account, a donation in a charity current account, or service charges payable in YouTuber’s accounts. The format should be the same whether it is converted by Western Union, National Bank, or a foreign bank located in India.

“Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) must be issued and All International and Indian banks must send the link through SMS to get FIRC automatically in case Foreign Exchange is being deposited in the account as converted INR,” the plea stated.

“Moreover, only a person or company should be permitted to send Indian Rupees from one bank account to another bank account inside the territory of India through the RTGS, NEFT and IMPS and international banks should not be allowed to use these domestic banking transactions tools,” it added.

The petitioner also requested that foreign exchange transactions through Indian banks, including foreign bank branches in India such as ICICI, HDFC, HSBC, and others, require information such as the depositor’s name and mobile number, International Money Transfer (IMT) rather than RTGS/NEFT/IMPS, currency name such as AUD (Australian Dollars), USD (US Dollars), CNH (Chinese Yuan), GBP (Great British Pounds), EUR (Euro), etc.