KOCHI: Geordy Pittappilly, a Non-Resident Keralite (NRK) settled in New York, landed in Kerala on November 29 after planning his trip to a tee. He was making the 16-day trip to honour his commitment of conducting this year’s church feast at Thalanji parish at his hometown Nilambur, Malappuram, from December 1 to 8.
But demonetisation has completely disrupted his plans.
“I thought I could convert dollar here and meet my expenses. But when I landed at the Kochi airport, I gauged the ramifications of the demonetisation, throwing my entire plans into disarray.
I could convert only $300 at the Federal Bank counter in the airport,” said Geordy who is employed with the Railways in the USA. The exchange rate offered at the counter made matters worse. Against the market rate of `68.70/dollar, the counter offered `65.30/dollar, causing Geordy to lose `3.40/dollar.
If that wasn’t enough, leading textile houses in the city offered even lesser exchange rates to Geordy, who was looking to buy clothes and dress materials for his relatives. He had to use his international credit card for purchases, paying huge transaction charges.
“Due to the restrictions on cash withdrawal, payments to drama troupes, chenda melam, music band and others for the church feast have been affected. Such payments are mostly done with cash as they are not used to cheque or e-banking,” he said. Geordy’s is not a lone case. A large number of NRKs, who are visiting Kerala or are planning to visit, have been hit by the abrupt demonetisation of `500 and `1,000 notes by the Centre from November 8.
Saji John, another NRK settled in Florida, decided to make a short visit to his home state while on a business trip to Dubai.
Saji is now at the mercy of his relatives for his day-to-day expenses in Kerala. “I landed at Kochi on December 5 at 3 am and I was in the queue for four hours to convert my dollar at the airport counter,” he said. “They let me convert only $91 and asked me to provide change. This was ridiculous.”
Saji, who is the founding chair of the Malayali Association, and the regional coordinator of the Republican Party at Florida, is disappointed with the hassles that travellers to this country have been going through because of demonetisation.
Saji said he saw a UK citizen literally crying at the airport as he had no credit cards with him. “Whenever I come to visit my relatives, I spend `5-10 lakh from my NRI account. Local economy has lost this money,” said Saji, who’s returning on Friday.
Saji who’s been invited for President-elect Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration, said many NRIs have decided to withdraw their decision to invest in India and instead putting money in South Korea and Indonesia after the ongoing demonetisation disruption.
With credit cards charging 15 per cent for foreign exchange transactions, purchase has become a costly affair for visitors.
Sebastian Joseph, who is settled in Melbourne, Australia, has been planning to visit Vazhakulam, his hometown near Muvattupuzha, during Christmas, but he is now a worried man. His troubles are compounded due to one more reason.
“I have deposited some money in a cooperative society account to meet my sundry expenses during my Kerala visits. I am now worried about the fate of my hard-earned money for which I’ve toiled in a foreign land. I am also unable to carry Australian dollars as they are of no use,” rued Sebastian.
George Antony, the managing director of UAE Exchange-India, said current rules allow a traveller to convert foreign currency worth `50,000.
“The remaining amount, whatever it is, is deposited directly into the client’s account. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi wants to end all grey transactions,” he said.
Geordy and Saji said even that rule was not followed now. “I will be happy if they deposit my money into my account, allowing me to withdraw it and meet the expenses for my church’s feast. But the permissible withdrawal limit of `24,000 is insufficient,” said Geordy.