How Can Indians Living Abroad Exchange Their Old Rupee Notes?
India's central bank says nonresident Indians with Non-Resident Ordinary accounts in India can deposit the old bills
An Indian man shows old currency notes, waiting to exchange them at a bank branch in Kolkata, India, November 13, 2016. PHOTO: ZUMA PRESS
By
Nov 18, 2016 10:34 am ISTKRISHNA POKHAREL
The lines to exchange old 500- and 1,000- rupee notes seem to be getting longer each day, but they are never going to be long enough to reach the millions of Indians living and working abroad.
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Ever since the government declared 500- and 1,000-rupee notes null and voidfor most transactions last week, hundreds of millions of Indians across the country have been scrambling to deposit and exchange their yellow and pink Gandhis before even banks stop accepting them next year.
What can nonresident Indians do if they have nullified bills either with them abroad or stashed somewhere in India?
According to official guidelines from India's central bank, there are not many options for the NRI who needs to exchange the notes by the Dec. 30 deadline.
The Reserve Bank of India says nonresident Indians with a Non-Resident Ordinary account in India can deposit old bills. These accounts were created to allow NRIs to park money in India.
But many Indians abroad don't have the special accounts, and even some of those who do say the international branches of their banks aren't taking the voided bills.
Some NRIs have been demanding more options by taking to Twitter and tweeting with a hashtag: #whataboutnris.
An Indian girl shows her inked finger as she holds new Indian currency notes at a bank in Bhopal, India, 16 November 2016. PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
Sapan Patel, an Indian who works in New York, says he has been unable to find a way to change a bundle of old notes and is worried they will lose all value.
"I keep this much money with me to handle expenses for the first couple days whenever I go to India," Mr. Patel said.
Alpana Killawala, a spokeswoman for the RBI, said that the bank will be coming up with separate guidelines to address the concerns of the NRI community.
In the meantime, it looks like the only other option, at least for any cash stored in India, is for NRIs to depute someone to deposit their cash for them. The RBI directives say they will need to carry an authorization letter and proof of identity.
And, of course, the costliest option is for NRIs to fly to India and stand in line themselves. But remember, people aren't allowed to bring in more than 25,000 rupees at a time, according to the law, so one would have to have a lot of rupees waiting in India to make it worth the expense.
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