While it is very easy to receive money from outside of India, it is virtually impossible to send money out of India through money transfer companies. Western Union is one company i have dealt with several times and have personal experience of their efficiency( or lack thereof). They are ok. But i trust the hawala dealers ( illegal money launderers) more.
A few years ago, i had to send money ( a few hundred dollars) to a friend stranded in Thailand. Boy ! did i have to go through hell. Western Union simply turned my request down. So did many of the local money transfer companies. It was as if they were telling us all "Indians are good at receiving money, but not good at sending it out". Though i dont understand macro-finance and banking laws, I am assuming this has something to do with the RBI guidelines for money transfer etc..
If India really wants to join the global community ( which it claims it wants to do), then it better get in tune with the way other countries function. The core of this is putting the citizen as the focus and ensuring that his/her life is safe, comfortable and worth living. This focus seems to be missing in Indian policy making. Hope better sense prevails over our Bureaucrats and policy makers and they start thinking of these small but annoying details and synchronise our systems with that of other countries so one does not have to deal with "illegal" people.
In the meanwhile, if you have to send money out of India - to your friend/ relative or anyone, urgently then your only hope today is through the hawala. And i speak from experience.
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