Currency for India

[champagne lover]

We are going to India in a few weeks with celebrity, 4 different ports. Have just realised we can't bring rupees with us. What have others done? Our first port is Cochin - can we change sterling (or dollars) there? Any help would be welcome.

[G.M.T.]

When we were in Mumbai and Goa recently, we had Euros and US $ (small notes) for any excurions we had booked before leaving. For local currency we gotcash from ATM using bank card / credit card (never had a problem). We asked our cabin steward if she could take Indian Rupees as part of a tip, she was more than happy and told us that she exchanges them with her Indian crew members.

[chrisgoates]

We found that money changers will take £'s sterling but the best rates were at bank ATMs which were all over the place, although they had a limit per transaction, I think around £100, you could just put your card back in and do another transaction. Some ATMs had a small fee but you were warned about this and lots didn't. There was a bit of a learning curve on the first transaction as the order of doing things and the questions were slightly different to UK ATMs but it was all in English and we soon got used to it. If you do take sterling (or Euros or USdollars) try and get clean relatively new notes as they are much preferred. Sometimes we found we had run out of small denomination rupee notes, useful for tipping, they just don't seem to like coins, but our hotel reception would break large notes for us.

 

Chris

[Jayayeff]

On 1/18/2019 at 6:09 PM, champagne lover said:

We are going to India in a few weeks with celebrity, 4 different ports. Have just realised we can't bring rupees with us. What have others done? Our first port is Cochin - can we change sterling (or dollars) there? Any help would be welcome.

 

Are you on one of the Celebrity cruises that starts in Abu Dhabi??  If so then why not exchange some sterling (or dollars) into rupees at one of the many money exchanges there before you sail across to India.  Rupees are ready available in any of them and you don’t need to use ATM’s in India when you get there...  I did an Indian coastal cruise last year and took rupees in cash with me...

 

Anne..

[champagne lover]

3 minutes ago, Jayayeff said:

 

Are you on one of the Celebrity cruises that starts in Abu Dhabi??  If so then why not exchange some sterling (or dollars) into rupees at one of the many money exchanges there before you sail across to India.  Rupees are ready available in any of them and you don’t need to use ATM’s in India when you get there...  I did an Indian coastal cruise last year and took rupees in cash with me...

 

Anne..

Thanks for your reply Anne - yes we are leaving from Abu Dhabi, will be there for 2 days before the cruise so could change money there but we were told we couldn't take rupees into India.

[Jayayeff]

13 minutes ago, champagne lover said:

Thanks for your reply Anne - yes we are leaving from Abu Dhabi, will be there for 2 days before the cruise so could change money there but we were told we couldn't take rupees into India.

 

I have never heard that it was not allowed to take rupees with you and as you can imagine a lot of people travel from here over to India.  Like you I arrived by cruise ship and I don’t recall anyone ever asking if I had any local currency with me.  I did exactly as I suggested to you - went to one of the money exchanges in my local mall bought rupees there, took them with me and what I had leftover I exchanged with one of the staff in my office when I got back... 

 

Anne...

[JBare]

We were on a cruise from Abu Dhabi last year on the Millenium.  Do not worry, money changers were in the ports and were efficiently organised/approved and offered reasonable rates. It was quick and easy, I exchanged £ in Mumbai for rupees and back when leaving Goa. I only needed money for train tickets and snacks.  I would not recommend getting rupees before hand as you are correct that its not allowed.

 

http://www.goatourism.gov.in/currency

 

here's an extract from the above website

 

" It is not permitted to take Indian currency out of India nor purchase the Rupee overseas. If you are arriving from a foreign country, you should change some of your currency into Rupees at the airport or at the nearest branch of State Bank of India where you are offered the best rates of exchange.

Money Exchange services are also available at most major hotels & resorts and private money changers in the area. Most reputed banks such as HDFC, ICICI etc also have ATMs that accept Master and Visa Card to withdraw cash. "

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by JBare
spelling

[Jayayeff]

1 hour ago, JBare said:

We were on a cruise from Abu Dhabi last year on the Millenium.  Do not worry, money changers were in the ports and were efficiently organised/approved and offered reasonable rates. It was quick and easy, I exchanged £ in Mumbai for rupees and back when leaving Goa. I only needed money for train tickets and snacks.  I would not recommend getting rupees before hand as you are correct that its not allowed.

 

http://www.goatourism.gov.in/currency

 

here's an extract from the above website

 

" It is not permitted to take Indian currency out of India nor purchase the Rupee overseas. If you are arriving from a foreign country, you should change some of your currency into Rupees at the airport or at the nearest branch of State Bank of India where you are offered the best rates of exchange.

Money Exchange services are also available at most major hotels & resorts and private money changers in the area. Most reputed banks such as HDFC, ICICI etc also have ATMs that accept Master and Visa Card to withdraw cash. "

 

 

Well, you learn something new every day.  I didn’t know visitors weren’t allowed to take rupees into India with them. I, and dozens of people I know, have taken cash with us when travelling there for business or pleasure and have never been asked whether we had rupees with us or not!!!   

 

Anne...

[hallasm]

You are allowed to take rupees into India (there is however a limit) - also be aware that India in currently changing all their bank notes - old notes are invalid - you might get invalid notes when exchanging at ‘unofficial sources’ - you might also get these invalid notes as change in India.

in Denmark it’s possible to exchange to INR in Forex Bank - might also be possible in Scotland. I did exchange to Rupees here in Denmark before my cruise stops in India.

Some research for Cochin

Edited January 25, 2019 by hallasm

[JBare]

1 hour ago, hallasm said:

You are allowed to take rupees into India (there is however a limit)

 

Yes if you are a resident in India so it is is possible to obtain them and take them but tourists should not.

For the OP from the UK this website is most relevant to you.

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/india/money

 

 

Edited January 25, 2019 by JBare
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