Rupee's nosedive.
 

Rupee has taken a nose dive over the last six weeks. Last year, some one asked me to bring an electronic device for him. I had asked to be paid in US$ since he is a Canadian working in India. He preferred to pay me in Indian Rs. I agreed to it, as long as he paid me at the beginning of my trip so that I could spend the money. For some reason, he kept forgetting until the very end of the trip last year. I told him he could either pay me in US$ or pay me Rupee equivalent amount on my subsequent visit at the rate prevailing at the time of my subsequent visit. By my following visit, the Rupee had depreciated from ~45 to the US$ to ~50. He wasn't happy about it. Grudgingly, he paid me at the beginning of my last trip, @ Rs 49 to the dollar saying "I am doing you a favour". Within a couple of days of the transaction, the Rupee depreciated to ~52.

I am sure, he is happy now. These are the perils of foreign exchange transaction. I am not complaining, even though I would have liked to be paid in US$, because I made the decision to accept payment in Rs.

Are you happy or unhappy about the plight of the Rupee? Has it affected your business plans, or travel plans?

i only have a couple of trips planned to the US in 2012 & i wouldn't need to exchange any currency so its not going to effect me much, if at all....

its hovering at inr 53 today....i would however, like to see it come down to below inr 50 soon....

No complaints from me. The more it dives, the more I get for my £.

But then again, I am only a leisure traveller to India and I certainly do not have any sorts of investments or business ties to India.

i guess it's not going to make a difference to the leisure traveller....

maybe i should ask my international clients to start paying me in usd....:p

Usually, leisure travellers are more concerned about such things even though amounts involved are quite small.

I had a customer threatening not to clear the consignment since he paid in US$ and they wanted a 20% credit note to cover the INR depreciation :)

That's silly. if and when Rupee appreciates, would he pay up?

Of course not. I 'agreed' to take back the consignment if he paid the 2000$ freight to take it back and mentioned that I would report him to the credit rating agencies and the export guarantee authorities in Germany. The goods were accepted for delivery within two days :):D