Of all the absurd rules and regulations that have come out of this demonetisation exercise, the one on Monday about compelling NRIs to fill currency forms at the airport must rank unequivocally in first place. I had said there is roughly Rs 150 billion floating about the 30 million Indian diaspora at an average of Rs 5,000 per person kept to make it easier to reach home and have a little start-off spending money.
Clearly, these billions do not count. After exhausting the deadline of 30 December without even bringing up the issue, the government’s new six-month extension up to June has been turned into a nightmare.
Imagine landing at the airport at 2 am, bleary-eyed and jet-lagged, family in tow, standing in line for immigration, then being united with your luggage and then going to Customs and asking for a form to fill, after which the officer will stamp it while you hang around in the queue. After he has counted your notes which must not exceed Rs 25,000 he will give you this piece of paper at his leisure… which could be hours.
Shudder at the thought of three Gulf flights landing at the same time.
Now, bringing back your legitimate money — allowed by law — has become a 'declaration at Customs' thing: That historical citadel where so many have fallen (and still fall) victim to the hostile and often unreasonable and whimsical invasion of their luggage and their peace of mind.
You will then go to the Reserve Bank of India with that piece of paper and stand in another queue at one of the specially earmarked branches in your city (not all of them are authorised to collect the currency), where after you have exhausted the whole day shoving your IDs over the counter and proving you were not involved in the Great Train Robbery and are ready to shoot yourself, you may get a chance to deposit the dead bodies of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. RIP.
Who thought this up? It stinks of hubris and arrogance that you would make it so difficult to collect these sums indicating how flush you must be with funds. The government might as well put up a sign saying, "NRI deposits don’t count, push off".
03/01/17 Bikram Vohra/First Post
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Clearly, these billions do not count. After exhausting the deadline of 30 December without even bringing up the issue, the government’s new six-month extension up to June has been turned into a nightmare.
Imagine landing at the airport at 2 am, bleary-eyed and jet-lagged, family in tow, standing in line for immigration, then being united with your luggage and then going to Customs and asking for a form to fill, after which the officer will stamp it while you hang around in the queue. After he has counted your notes which must not exceed Rs 25,000 he will give you this piece of paper at his leisure… which could be hours.
Shudder at the thought of three Gulf flights landing at the same time.
Now, bringing back your legitimate money — allowed by law — has become a 'declaration at Customs' thing: That historical citadel where so many have fallen (and still fall) victim to the hostile and often unreasonable and whimsical invasion of their luggage and their peace of mind.
You will then go to the Reserve Bank of India with that piece of paper and stand in another queue at one of the specially earmarked branches in your city (not all of them are authorised to collect the currency), where after you have exhausted the whole day shoving your IDs over the counter and proving you were not involved in the Great Train Robbery and are ready to shoot yourself, you may get a chance to deposit the dead bodies of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. RIP.
Who thought this up? It stinks of hubris and arrogance that you would make it so difficult to collect these sums indicating how flush you must be with funds. The government might as well put up a sign saying, "NRI deposits don’t count, push off".
03/01/17 Bikram Vohra/First Post
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