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Thousands of Indian tourists in Dubai were left out of sorts after they learned that money exchanges in the UAE do not accept the Rs2000 Indian currency notes.
“I possess fifty Rs2,000 notes in Indian currency that I intend to exchange here. However, the exchanges in UAE have declined to accept this particular denomination,” said Ibrahim Shah, who is on a visit to the country.
“I had been to Abu Dhabi on Monday and I was unable to exchange the denomination there as well,” said Shah.
The Indian government recently announced its decision to withdraw the currency note from circulation, which has left many Indian expatriates and tourists in Dubai facing difficulties in exchanging their Rs2,000 bills.
The public has been advised by the central bank to either deposit their Rs2,000 banknotes (which were introduced after the withdrawal of Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes during the demonetisation process six years ago) into their bank accounts or exchange them for banknotes of different denominations at any branch of a bank.
Another Indian tourist from Mangalore was also told that the notes cannot be exchanged in Dubai, and that this has to be done in India. “I was told to take the bills to India and exchange them in one of the banks,” said Samman who is on a month-long visit.
Several prominent exchange houses in Dubai, including those located in popular commercial areas and airports, have already implemented policies refusing to accept Rs2,000 bills from their customers.
Khaleej Times reached out to exchanges in Dubai. Speaking about the issue, many exchange houses agreed that they have stopped accepting the bill considering the currency’s upcoming invalidation in India.
An exchange house based in Deira stated: “We advise individuals to approach their respective banks in India to convert their Rs2,000 bills to other accepted denominations before travelling,”
A major exchange house in the UAE, who wished to remain anonymous, said that there is some uncertainty, and that they are refusing to accept the Rs2,000 bill in large amounts.
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