Banks are urging the Reserve Bank of India to rethink new rules for foreign-exchange transactions designed to shore up the rupee, saying the measures would saddle them with large losses, a Bloomberg report said quoting sources.

In talks on Saturday, banks sought to delay by three months an April 10 deadline for them to comply with the rules that would require a significant number of positions to be closed, sources said.

Unwinding at such a scale would trigger large losses on their books and also urged that the latest regulation apply only to new bets, they added.

The move comes as outstanding bets involving such positions amount to at least $30 billion, the sources said.

These transactions involve banks purchasing dollars onshore and selling them overseas in the non-deliverable forwards market, they said.

The local dollar buying has exerted strain on the rupee, which fell to a new low on Friday, weakening past the closely watched 94-per-dollar mark for the first time.

The RBI said after markets closed on Friday that lenders acting as authorised dealers in the rupee must ensure their open positions in the onshore currency market do not exceed $100 million at the end of each trading day.