Demonetization distress continues at banks and ATMs even after a month. The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) and the affiliated banks are actively working to reduce the upshot, there has been no proper action from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) addressing the woes of Non Resident Indians(NRI) carrying cash in 500 and 1000 rupee denominations.
Even though the country is actively preparing for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas the note ban cheesed off the wide Indian diaspora. As per the regulations a person is allowed to carry maximum of 25000
INR as export cash. This amount is substantial for any Indian middle class residing abroad. Currency exchange services and many overseas branches failed to accept the bills for exchange or deposit. According to the RBI guidelines, NRI who holds an Non Resident ordinary (NRO) account, can deposit these banknotes into the account conveniently. The population that holds the NRO account is negligible. The NRIs raised concerns about the overseas branches of State Bank of India, Indian overseas bank and other banks failing to accept the old notes.
Many Indians who tend to carry cash to avoid paying exchange rate, are now bearing the brunt. The frequent flyers reported that they have more money than the limit set for exchange. The Indians abroad are trying to figure out ways to get the money exchanged, RBI in its directive to NRIs informed that those who have bank notes in India can authorize, in writing, another person to deposit money into the bank account. If the limits keep changing day in and out, the NRIs are astound on the number of times they need to authorize a person.
The overseas Indians on pins and needles are reaching out to the December travelers. The revenue minister made a statement that those holding old notes but living abroad will have to come to India within the next six months and get it deposited in banks or exchanged. A lot of students who study abroad would be returning to India in December for their annual winter break, but, this fly back option remains costliest for the working population. However, NRIs who are not traveling this year have time to exchange their bank notes up till March 31st by presenting ID proof.
The Indians abroad are using twitter to reach out to the Ministry of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Indian Embassy with the hash tag #whataboutNRIs, to get the old notes off their back. The frustration is brewing among the overseas citizens who feel that the MEA is beating around the bush. As the deadline is approaching, the government has formed an inter-ministerial committee to look into concerns expressed by NRIs, tourists from abroad and foreign missions over demonetization. The MEA spokesperson informed that the second set of issues to be addressed was related to NRIs having cash, or those holding Indian currency abroad while the first set is to address the issues of foreign missions.
