I'm finishing up a 2 week trip to India. I tried my best to get things working using a platform called Cheq. Before I left, I installed their app and paid 799.20 INR via credit card, discounted from 999. I submitted a bunch of information including a photo of my passport info page. An OTP was sent via WhatsApp, which was successful. I wasn't able to upload my visa since I was entering India with an e-visa for the first time, and I didn't have my actual visa yet.

Once I got to India, I needed to have my documents verified by visiting a TransCorp branch—it seems to be a foreign exchange and remittance company. Their Connaught Place location was closed for Shivratri, so I schlepped to another branch in Nehru Place from the Le Meridien. It was kind of a pain finding it since the Google Maps address is correct, but the pin is in a completely different place on the map. I finally found the office on the 4th floor of a building in the computer market. I was hopeful because other westerners had written helpful directions in their Google reviews, so I wasn't the only foreigner who was trying to do this!

They took my passport and I did whatever they needed to do. I got some in--app notifications saying that verification was done while they were working in the back office. Easy enough?

But then...nothing. The app got stuck in a "your profile is being reviewed" state. I sent Cheq a message through WhatsApp, and they responded that I needed to wait 24-48 hours, because apparently after verification comes a review? It was unclear, because the app crashed when I clicked the "learn more" button. Uh oh.

At this point I also noticed that the app had a new, mysterious "verify your SIM" step. It incorrectly sends an SMS to an Indian number from my US SIM...but without the +91 prefix, thus making it impossible to do whatever they intended to do. Things weren't looking good.

This week rolls around and the app is still in the same state. At this point, I was getting along fine with cash and kind of forgot about UPI, but let me tell you it is really hard to get change, especially for 500 notes. Nobody wants 500 notes. I sent Cheq another message telling them their process/app is broken, and asked for a refund with a threat to chargeback the 799.20. They immediately initiated the refund and we'll see if it goes through.

So, that's my data point as someone who loves India and has been visiting for 20 years. I tried my best but failed. Maybe next time!