No FE trades online, RBI tells credit card cos

Move aimed at stemming losses

The regulations under Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), 1999, do not permit resident Indians to trade in foreign exchange in domestic or overseas markets.

The RBI’s instruction comes in the wake of introduction of overseas foreign exchange trading on a number of Internet and electronic trading portals, luring the residents with offers of guaranteed high returns based on such forex trading.

Several people have lost heavily in forex trade through Internet portals in the recent past. “The advertisements by these Internet or online portals exhort people to trade in forex by way of paying the initial investment amount in Indian rupees,” RBI said.

Many companies even engage agents who personally contact gullible people to undertake forex trading and investment schemes and entice them with promises of disproportionate or exorbitant returns, the Reserve Bank of India said. Such companies ask public to make the margin payments for such online forex trading transactions through credit cards or deposits in various accounts maintained with banks in India, RBI said.

Be alert

 “...The card issuing companies who may also be advised to remain alert against permitting payments for such unauthorised transactions.” The apex bank said it has also observed that accounts are being opened in the name of individuals or proprietary concerns at different bank branches for collecting the margin and investment money.

The banks have been asked to exercise “due caution and be extra vigilant” in respect of the such transactions, the RBI’s circular said.

Any resident Indian collecting or remitting such payments outside India is liable to be proceeded against with, for contravention of Fema and violation of regulations relating to Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and Anti Money Laundering (AML) standards, the circular added.