November 22: Tourists coming from India have been facing problems at border checkpoints due to the ban on Indian currency of 500 and 2000 denominations.

The local entrepreneurs say that if the Indian tourists visiting Nepal are found carrying these currency notes, the security personnel deployed at the border points confiscate the notes and even imprison them.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, only IRs 100 is in circulation in Nepal. Officials of NRB clarified that such a rule is imposed while considering the risk of unauthorized transactions of Indian Currency (IC).

When carrying low IC notes of low denomination, one has to carry large quantities of such notes even for small transactions, which is difficult and impractical. Some of the tourists carry IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes due to lack of information and get into trouble.

Hari Pant, president of Hotel and Tourism Entrepreneurs Association, said that the Indian tourists hesitate to come to Nepal due to such hassles.

Pant complains that the issue of big notes is affecting the tourism and hotel business of the Terai region. The business of this area is dependent on Indian tourists.

“When the tourists from India started getting into trouble because of the cash they had with them, it has started affecting our business,” he said.

Indian citizens do not know that Indian notes above 100 rupee denomination are banned in Nepal. Sanjay Agarwal, co-ordinator of the Madhesh Province Tour and Travel and Tourism Committee of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry says that tourists suffer at the border because of the money they bring with them to spend.

Ashok Kumar Baidya, chairman of Nepal-India Cooperation Forum, suggested that the government should facilitate Indian tourists in the border points even if it means they have to establishment a help room for the Indian tourists. He suggested that the Indian should be allowed to carry currencies of 500 and 2000 denominations on a self-declaration basis.

“If they are not allowed bring the notes, there should be a simple arrangement to facilitate the Indian tourists at the border. They should not be prosecuted and sent to prison, but rather need cooperation.”

Entrepreneurs say that there is no reason to impose a ban on the higher denominations of Indian currency in Nepal and cause suffering to the tourists on the pretext of banning these currency notes. Tourism entrepreneurs argue that the government must either ban the Indian currency in Nepal completely or  lift the ban altogether because there is no point in allowing circulation of IRs 100 notes and banning the circulation of IRs 500 and IRs 2000 notes. This has only become a cause of confusion and problems for tourists coming to Nepal, they say.