Indian rupees

rajuv

i go to india nearly every year and i always take rupees with me to india and bring them back to the uk.
i have been doing this for around 15 years. i never knew i was ilegal though

rajuv

lol
where should i leave the 50k or so rupee's then?

Minx

Hi All

I'm off to India (Kerala) in just over two weeks and have not been very organised.
I was planning on taking a small amount of rupees, travellers cheques, my RBS OneAccount bank card and Halifax credit card for my 3 week holiday. Just read the article which says my cards are the worst to take abroad!! I looked at the pre-paid cards and it looked like you can only load them with Euros or Dollas. Does anyone know if any of these can be used in India?
Any suggestions what would be best to take? Absolutely no idea how much I'll spend.
Thanks x

rajuv

you could take cash (say £500 to £1000. not sure if you allowed to though, but i do it all the time) and pop into any local bank and get it changed there.
if needs be you can use your cards if you run out of pounds.

dzug1

You can use the prepaid cards in India - they will charge you for the conversion from whatever's on the card to rupees, plus whatever their normal fee is.

Your 'worst' cards are actually no worse than getting currency at say the Post Office here, particularly for obscure currencies. (Calling them the cards from hell is just journalistic hype). Just as long as you take enough out at a time to justify the minimum fee.

Minx

Thanks rajuv and dzug1. I think I will take some cash - (English not Scottish notes:-) - and a pre-paid card with a coupla traveller's cheques and my cards for emergencies - don't want to be stranded at a shop with no money!!

Do you know if it's best to get a pre-paid card in Euros or Dollars for India? The island I'm looking at is quoting in Euros but I don't know if these would be as 'big' as Dollars?

dzug1

Minx wrote: »

Do you know if it's best to get a pre-paid card in Euros or Dollars for India? The island I'm looking at is quoting in Euros but I don't know if these would be as 'big' as Dollars?

It shouldn't make any difference. The conversion is going to be done at the issuing bank/card company, not the ATM.

You are probably (with the postal situation) better off getting one over the counter rather than one that has to be sent to you.

Pollycat

I saw this link on Tripadvisor yesterday:
http://www.cbec.gov.in/travellers.htm

If you look at #6 under 'Notes', it clearly states that you shouldn't take rupees into India unless you are normally resident in India.