Indian Rupees

stargazer 68

Heading to India in a couple of weeks but having trouble getting Rupees. None of the banks will order them in - am I missing something?
Any ideas where to get them?

ardmacha

Why bother with all this trouble? There are lots of them in India and you are going there, just get some on arrival.

Galadriel

Just get them when you arrive there, that's what I did.

bellinter

I got them when I arrived. I believe it is a closed currency.

stargazer 68

Yep been doing a bit of trawling and seems to be difficult to get outside of India and they can be confiscated on arrival. Will have to get them there!

bellinter

also make sure you get rid of any you have before coming home, just as hard to change them back

laoisman11

Might depend what type of tourism you will be doing, but try to avoid getting big notes. 500 rupees can be difficult to break in many places, notes of 1000 almost impossible.

bellinter

Agree with laoisman... I was going somewhere and everyone had to pay 100 rupees... I only had 1,000 notes. The guy taking the cash had a stack of 100's in his hand about 6 inches thick.. "no change"

be prepared for a serious amount of this sort of patience-testing sh*te!

krb1979

My advice would be to keep lots and lots of spare change, otherwise you will be short-changed in every transaction.
Depending on what area of india you travel, the "state" of the notes will also matter. In places like Mumbai even if a note has a small tear it will not be accepted. On the other hand in place like bangalore even two pieces of a note joined with tape will be accepted.

Jet Black

The currency is restricted about two years now but not really enforced.
Only residents of India are allowed take 10000INR in/out of the county. Non residents not allowed take any in or out. People still seem to be getting it in Amsterdam, England and German. Here they can't really be traded.

stargazer 68

Thanks for all the advice folks. Think we will get it when we arrive. Would hate to get it here and then it be taken off us!! Will remember the small change thing too! I used to live in the middle east so Im well used to the patience-testing s**te!