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Millions of migrants worldwide send billions of dollars in remittances
each year to their families or communities of origin. In many developing
countries, remittances are an important source of family and national
income and also are the largest source of external financing. Remittances
are better targeted at the needs of the poor than foreign aid or foreign
direct investment (FDI), as recipients often depend on remittances to
cover daily living expenses, to provide a cushion against emergencies, or
to make small investments in business or education. Therefore, remittance
services should be safe, efficient, and reliable. This can be achieved
by increasing competition, enhancing access to payment system infrastructure,
improving transparency, and ensuring a sound and predictable
legal and regulatory framework.
With an estimated US$49 billion in remittance inflows in 2009, India
is the world’s foremost remittance destination. The size and potential
impact of these inflows is large. Despite substantial progress over the past
15 years, the provision of accessible, efficient, safe, and cost-effective
remittance services in India could be improved. This report undertakes a
broad, detailed diagnostic of the Indian remittance market and analyze its
characteristics based on the General Principles for International Remittance
Services (GPs). It identifies some of the key actions and public policymeasures (especially in the areas of consumer protection, transparency,
retail payments, competition, and risk management) for the improvement
and future development of this market that would make it more contestable,
transparent, accessible, and sound.