The Commerce Ministry on Monday said eight lakh electronic Bank Realisation Certificates (eBRCs) have been issued to exporters in the first three months since its introduction, a move aimed at reducing transaction costs for exporters.

eBRCs were introduced on August 17. These are issued by banks after realisation of export proceeds in the country. It is an important document required for claiming benefits under various foreign trade policy schemes.

"We are trying to bring down the transaction cost for everyone involved -- exporters, government and banks. Effort is to make available all the relevant information to the stakeholders without compromising the privacy," an official statement quoting Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Anup K Pujari said.

Pujari today reviewed the progress of eBRC with banks in New Delhi.

He has written to Chairpersons of all the banks to address the issues pertaining to eBRCs.

BRC data is used by VAT, income tax and drawback departments.

"Moving towards paperless trade and with a view to reduce transaction cost, DGFT has introduced eBRC and stopped accepting physical copy of BRC," it said.

The eBRC module enables electronic transmission of foreign exchange realisation from banks to DGFT server. This process is made secure by use of digital certificate.

Further it added that adoption of electronic means will strengthen transparency, speed and responsiveness of the department while bringing down the transaction cost for everyone.

The quantum of transaction cost is about 7-10 per cent of total value of Indian exports. This amounts to a significant, about USD 15 billion.