Proposal to reshape India's money-changing industry hits a roadblock

Central bank called for industry to have forex correspondents but there has been no progress

When the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came out with a draft licensing framework for the foreign exchange business late last year a key proposal was to have a new category: Forex correspondents (FxCs). It would have changed the way retail forex is bought and sold by giving a fillip to a new franchisee model.

But there has been no progress.
 

The ‘draft licensing framework for authorised persons (APs)’ under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999’ was received with much interest when it was released in December 2023. It was last reviewed almost two decades ago (in