Import‚ export of 500‚ 1‚000-rupee Indian notes formally legalised

KATHMANDU:

The government has formally legalised import and export of Indian bank notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee denominations, with the issuance of a notice in the gazette.

This means Nepalis can carry Indian bank notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee denominations while travelling to or returning from India. The sum of such bank notes, however, should not

exceed IRs 25,000.

A notice, in this regard, was published in the gazette yesterday based on a request made earlier by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central monetary authority, to the Ministry of Finance.

“We are now preparing to issue a directive which will allow banks and financial institutions to buy and sell Indian bank notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee denominations,” Acting Executive Director of the Foreign Exchange Management Department at NRB, Bhisma Raj Dhungana, told The Himalayan Times.

The Ministry of Finance had barred circulation of Indian bank notes of 500-rupee denomination in the country by publishing a notice in the gazette on June 26, 2000. Although that gazette had not spoken of ban on Indian bank notes of 1,000-rupee denomination, NRB had prevented circulation of such notes.

But last month, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Indian central bank, allowed Nepalis returning from India and Indian tourists to carry Indian bank notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee denominations while coming to Nepal.

In a statement on its website, RBI had said: “With a view to mitigate hardship of individuals visiting from India to Nepal or Bhutan, it has now been decided that an individual may carry to Nepal or Bhutan, currency notes of denominations above IRs 100, that is, currency notes of IRs 500 and/or IRs 1,000 denominations, subject to a limit of IRs 25,000.”

The RBI changed its policy almost two months after Indian Premier Narendra Modi made a public announcement in this regard during his Nepal visit.

India barred individuals travelling from Nepal to India or from India to Nepal to carry Indian notes of 500-rupee and 1,000-rupee denominations in May 2000. It had introduced the provision to curb circulation of counterfeit Indian currencies and unauthorised trade. But Nepal was persistently asking India to lift the ban at various bilateral meetings, as cases of confiscation of such notes possessed by Nepalis, who were ignorant about the provision, came to light.

SOurce: THT