NRIs fail to get dollars converted

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 24

As a large number of NRIs have started coming home in winter, they are baffled with the demonetisation of old currency notes of higher value. With foreign-exchange offices lying closed for want of new currency, the NRIs are not able to get their dollars or pounds converted into rupees.

Alambir Singh from Canton, Michigan, USA, complained, “I had taken Rs 12,000 saved from the last trip to the US. Now, when I landed at Delhi on November 21, I either had old currency notes or dollars, which I had brought to convert these into rupees.” He said he was embarrassed when he had to ask relatives here to lend him money because he could not find any foreign exchange office to convert the dollars he was carrying.

Another NRI, Inderbir Singh Bhangu, also from the US, said, “Few money changers are ready to change dollars in small amounts, adding that they too are taking an unauthorised cut on the exchange rate, as commission.” He said he did not agree to sell his dollars for less than the RBI exchange rate.

Meanwhile, a visit to Railway Link Road, where most of the money changers have their offices, revealed that they too were sitting idle. An attendant of a money changer’s office said, “People do come here in large numbers to convert dollars into rupees, but because we do not have cash, we ask them to accept a cheque instead of cash.” He added the people are not ready to accept cheques because they need cash to spend.

The rate of one US dollar in the market has increased to Rs 68.85 from around Rs 66.25 on November 8, the day on which demonetisation of old currency notes was announced.