India is just plain crazy !

mattster

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I am visiting family here in Kerala on a tourist visa.

I go to 3 different Indian banks in Trivandrum to change US dollars into Indian rupees......and we are only talking about less than USD $500, not some crazy large amount. All 3 banks tell me the same thing.....that they cannot change foreign currency unless I have an account with the bank.

I'm a tourist for God's sake; here only for 6 weeks...WTF would i want to open a bank account in India for ?? I even had my US passport with me to prove that I am a tourist....but, no it cant be done.

Why does a country that wants to promote tourism make it so difficult for tourists to convert their foreign currency to Indian rupees and spend it in India. Maybe they dont want tourists to spend their money...eh ??

I can understand government being inefficient, but these are private banks.

I have never seen a country so steeped in nonsensical policies like India. There is just no common sense/logic or rationale applied to policy making.

In ASEAN countries like Malaysia, THailand, and Singapore.....i can just walk into any bank and change USD into local currency.

Even the most trivial stuff like changing currency becomes a huge drama in India.

How does a country like this even get anything done ??
 

Razor

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I am visiting family here in Kerala on a tourist visa.

I go to 3 different Indian banks in Trivandrum to change US dollars into Indian rupees......and we are only talking about less than USD $500, not some crazy large amount. All 3 banks tell me the same thing.....that they cannot change foreign currency unless I have an account with the bank.

I'm a tourist for God's sake; here only for 6 weeks...WTF would i want to open a bank account in India for ?? I even had my US passport with me to prove that I am a tourist....but, no it cant be done.

Why does a country that wants to promote tourism make it so difficult for tourists to convert their foreign currency to Indian rupees and spend it in India. Maybe they dont want tourists to spend their money...eh ??

I can understand government being inefficient, but these are private banks.

I have never seen a country so steeped in nonsensical policies like India. There is just no common sense/logic or rationale applied to policy making.

In ASEAN countries like Malaysia, THailand, and Singapore.....i can just walk into any bank and change USD into local currency.

Even the most trivial stuff like changing currency becomes a huge drama in India.

How does a country like this even get anything done ??
Simply google "currency exchange" and name of your area/locality.
So for eg: "currency exchange kazhakoottam" or "currency exchange near varkala beach"
Only some bank branches are authorized to deal with foreign currency exchange.
Thank you for visiting.
 

indiatester

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US banks never changed my Rupees either :)
Check with your hotel and they will help you change those $'s
Not to mention your cards should work fine in most places. Alternatively, you should be able to use your card to withdraw rupees at most atm's.
 

amoy

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I used to make cash withdrawal from local ATMs to avoid exchange hassles.

Yet that service seems suspended with Indian banks, for the Unionpay network per its homepage.
 

roma

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many thanks to @mattster and everyone who posted n this thread ....i too am gonna visit india probably this year ...every time before i had been put off by some scary story
hope i make it this time

to @mattster i may visit kochi .....tell us more good places to visit in Kerela i am also thinking of long term stay as i believe it is also generally speaking a christian state ?
 

square

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been a US citizen , still been so dumb....

don't you idiots knows that indian banks do not do forex exchange , for the matter of fact , do US banks does this ? no.....there is a seperate entity for this .....foolish people always do foolish thing and then put blame on others ...

and what is this WTF WTF you are writing...

learn to behave like a civilised one , you must have also upset the bank staff by the way of your choose of words..

WTF would i want to open abank account in India for ??

I have never seen a country so steeped in nonsensical policies like India. There is just no common sense/logic or rationale applied to policy making.


Even the most trivial stuff like changing currency becomes a huge drama in India.

How does a country like this even get anything done ??
 
Last edited:

mattster

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Do post any other issues you face. We can suggest easier alternatives.
Finally, did you change your $'s or use your card to withdraw money?
I just used my US debit card to withdraw rupees.....the problem with doing that is that you get dinged on both sides. The US BAnk charges you a commission and so does the INdian bank whose ATM you use.

India needs to change its rules.....I understand the fear of money laundering, terrorism financing, etc.

But they should have simple rules that allow forex exchanges at any bank under $500 USD.

The other issue with using ATM is that the ATM limit is quite low.
 

captscooby81

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Well not sure which part of kerala you are in ..Even in Big Metro s not all branches of Banks handle Forex ..Trust me i had to go to 4 bank branches to exchange my SGD ..Always best option is go to any particular bank website select the branch and see what all they handle most websites have decent amount of information ..

Not sure you made an urgent visit to india or not but next time if you planning to visit do all the information research before you land here ..

Enjoy your stay in India ..Gods own country will sure take away this small little stress caused to you ..

I just used my US debit card to withdraw rupees.....the problem with doing that is that you get dinged on both sides. The US BAnk charges you a commission and so does the INdian bank whose ATM you use.

India needs to change its rules.....I understand the fear of money laundering, terrorism financing, etc.

But they should have simple rules that allow forex exchanges at any bank under $500 USD.

The other issue with using ATM is that the ATM limit is quite low.
 

indiatester

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I just used my US debit card to withdraw rupees.....the problem with doing that is that you get dinged on both sides. The US BAnk charges you a commission and so does the INdian bank whose ATM you use.

India needs to change its rules.....I understand the fear of money laundering, terrorism financing, etc.

But they should have simple rules that allow forex exchanges at any bank under $500 USD.

The other issue with using ATM is that the ATM limit is quite low.
Yeah, I can relate to it. Had to shell out a lot in lopsided conversion rates and commissions. Not to mention the ATM machine charging upto $4 per withdrawal.
The $500USD limits are not workable unfortunately. I can employ a 1000 people and get them to change $500 each with ease :). Scaling in people terms is something you can easily do in India.
I guess the only alternative is to use the designate money changers. Even bank branches that allow that. Google helps here.
 

mattster

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They really should stop calling Kerala "God own country". In Small towns in Kerala.....the power can go out about 5 or 6 times a day. A decade or 2 ago.....they were about 2 hours duration at the most. It was a scheduled power cut.....today it could be 5 minutes or 5 hours.....you just dont know.

Unless you have a diesel power generator in your backyard..."God's own country can feel like its "hell on earth" especially if the power goes out so long that your water tanks are dry and you dont have any power to pump water from the well to water tank.
 

captscooby81

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Sorry mate gods own mean the mountains and the backwaters ..not at all inside four walls..Well kerala still has lot to catch up ..I was there last week and trust me Hot summer and also humid it kills ..Hope you face less power cuts in your area till you go back ..

They really should stop calling Kerala "God own country". In Small towns in Kerala.....the power can go out about 5 or 6 times a day. A decade or 2 ago.....they were about 2 hours duration at the most. It was a scheduled power cut.....today it could be 5 minutes or 5 hours.....you just dont know.

Unless you have a diesel power generator...."God's own country can feel like hell, especially if you live in the rural parts.
 

Razor

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They really should stop calling Kerala "God own country". In Small towns in Kerala.....the power can go out about 5 or 6 times a day. A decade or 2 ago.....they were about 2 hours duration at the most. It was a scheduled power cut.....today it could be 5 minutes or 5 hours.....you just dont know.

Unless you have a diesel power generator in your backyard..."God's own country can feel like its "hell on earth" especially if the power goes out so long that your water tanks are dry and you dont have any power to pump water from the well to water tank.
Sorry mate gods own mean the mountains and the backwaters ..not at all inside four walls..Well kerala still has lot to catch up ..I was there last week and trust me Hot summer and also humid it kills ..Hope you face less power cuts in your area till you go back ..
"God's own country" is something the tourism industry has hijacked. But how did that epithet come about. @F-14B might know.

The Thiruvithancore raja kudumbam (Travancore Royal Family) who claim descent from the Ancient Cheras and also the ancient Pandya dedicated their kingdom to Sri Padmanabhaswami. The kingdom (including the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, recently in the news for $22B++ treasure) was a property of the God and the kings ruled as God's servant.
Hence the name "God's own country"; nothing to do with the natural beauty of KL.
 

captscooby81

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That's a valuable info mate ..Was wondering why these bloody commie s are advertising the state as Gods own when they bloody hate non Aethist or non Islamist..

@F-14B Well i would like to know more about the Vault story of Padmanabhaswami temple hope you can throw some more info about this place and why the vault number 4 was not opened ..

"God's own country" is something the tourism industry has hijacked. But how did that epithet come about. @F14b might know.

The Thiruvithancore raja kudumbam (Travancore Royal Family) who claim descent from the Ancient Cheras and also the ancient Pandya dedicated their kingdom to Sri Padmanabhaswami. The kingdom (including the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, recently in the news for $22B++ treasure) was a property of the God and the kings ruled as God's servant.
Hence the name "God's own country"; nothing to do with the natural beauty of KL.
 

Hiranyaksha

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okay not troll. Post deleted
Please enter a message with at least 30 characters.
 

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