TIPS: How To Exchange Your Rupees

A large number of Indians worldwide�have welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s sudden announcement about the�withdrawal of 500 and 1000 Rupee notes from circulation.

While this is a great move to curb black money, this new development has also raised many questions among a�large number of Indian diaspora living abroad.

Most NRIs living�abroad possess�at least few thousands of Indian Rupees, mainly used for taxi fare or local expenses while visitng India. The move has left them looking for answers as to how could they get their old 500 and 1000 rupee notes converted.

If you are one of those, here are 5�ways you could get your old notes converted:

1. Carry the cash with you to India if you are travelling soon

Many non-residential Indians may be�scheduled to make their trip to India in coming months. If you have plans to travel to India before 31 March 2017, you can carry these notes with you and get them exchanged.

• If you are travelling within the 72 hours of notification, you can exchange the old notes at Indian airports.
• If you are travelling before 30 December 2016, you will be able to deposit these into banks or post offices.
• Even if you are not travelling this year, you can still exchange them until 31 March 2017 at RBI offices. �NRIs can submit passport and visa/residence card to prove that you were abroad during this period.

2. Exchange your currency in your country of residence�

UPDATE : Unfortunately, this option is not valid any more as all money exchanges outside India have reportedly refused to accept the old 500 and 1000 notes since the announcement.

Foreign branches of Indian banks (such as SBI, ICICI) have also informed us that they can only exchange old notes in Indian branches, and not in foreign branches.

3. Deposit the old notes in your NRO account

Reserve Bank of India�s (RBI) website has listed�25 FAQs�one of which states that you can deposit your notes into Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Savings Account.

However this is only an option if you are in India or travelling to India before 30 December.

4. Authorize another person in India to deposit the notes

According to RBI guidelines, if you have old banknotes in India, you may authorize in writing enabling another person in India to deposit the notes into your bank account.

The person so authorized has to come to the bank branch with the old banknotes, the authority letter given by you and a valid identity proof.

Again this might work only if the notes are already in India or can be send via someone else.

5.�Send physical money with someone you trust

Another option is�to send the money�through someone you know who is traveling to India. Some of you might have friends or family going to India, and you can give your money to them and have it deposited at an Indian bank by your friend/relative (as mentioned in point 3).

While this might be a good idea, you need to find someone whom you can trust.

Also note that the limit on currency a traveler can bring to India without declaring is Rs 25,000.