Keyser

a friend returned from dubai a couple of days ago....he said there was no availability there & he saw a huge line at the currency exchange at del....there was also no money in the atms at the airport....

desi

@GUWonder

"..The above is neither a wholly accurate representation about the legal circumstances"

Might be very helpful to FTers here, if you share what is the accurate legal stuff.

Were we allowed to take more than 25k in cash out of country? or keep piles of cash ruppees outside India (in quantity where it can be of "harm"). Would be really useful to know how string legal ground we are actually on.

The policy decision may or may not be justified (depending on your personal political viewpoint) but horrible implementation by "sarkari babus" is inexcusable.

desi

Mind sharing what is the accurate legal situation? It would be helpful to lot of us here.

How much cash Rupees one is legally (Indian laws) allowed to hoard outside India?

cphan17

What are the exchange rates that people are getting at the Delhi airport for US Dollars? I called a local forex place around Connaught Place and was told that I could get 60 rupees for each $1 USD. That rate sounds really bad. Is it?

desi

In normal situation your rate should be around 65 or more given that official rate is around 67. However, current market is more influenced by factors such as availibility, access and denomination, it seems.

AJLondon

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/banking-...counts-1638336

I'm somewhat confused by the above article. Do they mean all accounts that fulfil the 2L/5L criteria, or only those that have KYC issues and fulfil the 2L/5L criteria. I tried searching on the RBI website, but couldn't find the relevant notification there...

GUWonder

The latter, but even banks can't keep all their employees up to date with the changes the government keeps making.

It's moves like this that undermine (potential) depositors' trust in banks.

I just found a handful of more 1000 INR notes, but don't fancy having to deal with the RBI or Indian banks over this kind of stuff.

desi

Nationalized Bank (Mumbai Suburab)

Thu Dec 15 (around noon time)

Absolutely not a single person in line to deposit money.

24K given in 2000 & 100 (half and half) denomination within 5 minutes (withdrawal via cheque). 500 notes not available.

Didnt check ATM but seemed working. No line.

Passbook update machine "broken" (most likely designated broken to avoid crowding. Nationwide addiction to update passbook after every transaction is amazing)

GUWonder is correct that keeping up with changing rules is a challenge for everyone. Technically, it is not government that is coming up with these detailed changes. It is sarkari babus. RBI is not government per se just as Federal Reserve is not.

As this branch was screening people (regarding purpose of entering it), branch was unusually devoid of crowd. Usual passbook updaters were being turned back.

GUWonder

The RBI is not acting independently on this demonetization and rule change applicable to bank deposits. The RBI's independence was already compromised by the elected Indian officials running the demonetization show and trying to "plug the leaks" in the aftermath of demonetization. Not that this makes a difference to those being subjected to the whims of elected, appointed or government civil service officials when it comes to cash possession and use rules.

India and Venezuela seem to be birds of a feather this year in harming the interests of the currency users by sudden demonetization of their key bank notes for the economy.

desi

Demonitization is just problem du jure. There has been long chain of similar bad decisions (suddenly blocking revist on 10 year multiple entry visa, introduce requirement to go through entire OCI proces all over again within 16 months because age 50 is risk to national security)

If problem is with elected officials, it is simple to fix: Just vote them out in the next election.

When it is ingrained with bureaucracy so deeply, you get truely Incredible India.

Anyway, notes issues seem to be improving (Also, it will take few years for Pakistani Army to figure out how to print new Indian notes. Sudden decrease in violence in Kashmir is the best positive outcome of this fiasco so far)

GUWonder

This demonetization remains a move made by and adjusted by the elected Government of India. The elected government owns it and its outcome, good or bad, even if they try to deny it at some point.

This demonetization has had very little material impact in Kashmir, India. Kashmir was already one of the most heavily banked areas in India. And foreign money and counterfeit notes aren't doing much of anything to excite or soothe things in the valley. Violence in the valley has tended to drop in the late fall and winter during the past two decades regardless of money shenanigans. This year, however, hatred for India in the valley has skyrocketed and demonetization hasn't made a difference in that regard.

If China so desired, it will take China less than a month to figure out how to copy the new Indian notes well enough to run a counterfeit note operation to feed its allies in Pakistan in ways that have been unprecedented in the region in our lifetime.

Keyser

opposite experience at delhi's sbi branch near ashram....

monday 12th december my staff member went to withdraw inr 12k around noon....stood in line for 4 hours & was then told no money left....

tuesday 13th december she goes back again at noon & once again after a few hours of standing in line she is told no money left....

wednesday 14th december she goes at 10am & is informed that they are still dealing with withdrawals from the day before so she should come back after lunch....she goes back at 2pm & stands in line for a couple of hours....when its finally her turn they refuse to give her the money since the firm's account originates from another branch....they tell her they are only giving money to those who have an account at their branch....she argues a bit & refuses to leave without the money so finally the bank agrees to give her inr 4k & no more....since she only had a cheque for inr 12k therefore she couldn't withdraw money that day as well....

thursday 15th december she finally manages to get inr 4k from this branch after standing in line for 3 hours....

all 4 days there were dozens of people at any given point of time at the atm machines & the lines to get into the branch extended out to the street....

beachfan

Any updates on Goa's airport?

cphan17

How have the lines been at the foreign currency exchange counters at Delhi? What are the rates that people have been getting for USD?

AJLondon

No idea about rate, but there were about 15 people in line at the Thomas Cook foreign exchange counter in the international baggage claim area, at around 1:30am a couple of days ago. There was a big sign up saying a max of INR 5k exchange permitted for foreign tourists though. My advice would be bringing smaller denomination USD bills.