Sending Money to India

If you are a foreign national trying to send money to an Indian citizen in India then read on.............. I have sent money to India via western union, a company I have used many times before, but although western union claim they can do the transfer with no problem the reality is that it will NOT be paid out. The reserve bank of India, which handles these transactions will refuse to authorise it if it is a foreign national sending to an India citizen. Of course you will be able to get a full refund on your principle sum but your transfer fees are non refundable. When I explained the situation to western union and suggested that this was actually fraudulent. They say that as far as they are aware there should be no problem. However when I spoke to their helpline in India they confirmed that it actually the case that the reserve bank is now refusing to pay out these kinds of transfers. So I then spoke to the reserve bank of India and they also confirm that this is the case. It seems to me that a company like western union has a duty to its customers to be up to date with the latest information regarding the countries that they are blindly accepting payments and fees for. I have to say my faith in this company is severely damaged and I do not believe that a company that does not have information about the state of the laws of countries in which they do substantial business can be considered trustworthy or in any way reliable. As a point of information it seems the Indian citizens abroad can stillo transfer money to Indian citizens in India and foreign nationals outside India can send money to other foreign nationals within India, I cannot verify this though so beware.