Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has applauded Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for liberalizing the rules for writing off unrealized export bills. In a letter to Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI A Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC thanked the central bank for permitting Authorised Dealer (AD) banks to write off unrealized export bills of any amount, which earlier was allowed only up to a certain limit beyond which the AD bank had to approach RBI for approval.

The AD banks have also been allowed to consider refund of export proceeds without insisting on import of goods, which are perishable in nature or had been auctioned or destroyed by an authorized agency in the importing country. Sakthivel believes these changes will not only simplify the procedure but also reduce the time taken for getting approvals and thereby reducing the regulatory cost. These measures will help exporters suffering from non-realization of export proceeds due to bankruptcy and insolvency, he said.