December 30: The government’s ban on Indian currency of Rs 200 to Rs 2000 denominations in Nepal has had visible impacts in the market. Due to the ban, there has been a significant decrease in the number of Indian tourists visiting hill stations like Ilam and Bhedetar via Biratnagar while the business community in the industrial capital of Nepal has also complained of reduced number of visitors from India for shopping.

 Binod Gupta, the operator of a fancy store in Biratnagar, informed New Business Age that he had sold winter clothes worth Rs 90,000 to Indian tourists by this time of the year. However, his sales have slumped to Rs 20,000 this year. Gupta further said that the Indians who have bought goods from his store this year are daily wage labourers.

He says that people from the bordering town of Jogbani come to Biratnagar to purchase clothes as they can find entirely differently range of goods in the Nepali market. But the Indian customers have stopped coming to Nepal after the government imposed the ban on Indian currency.

“It is not possible for the Indian customers to collect large number of Rs 100 notes just for shopping across the border. Therefore, they have stopped coming here due to the hassle,” said Gupta.

Likewise, tourism entrepreneurs have said there has been a decline in the number of Indian tourists due to the same reason. Bhabis Kumar Shrestha, chief of the tourism department of Morang Chamber of Commerce, said that they have been unable to explain to the Indian tourists about the reason why the government imposed the ban in the present context.

“We give service first and then only charge the tourists. During the time of bill payment, Indian tourists give us big notes and when we tell them that the currency is banned thy get pissed off,” said Shrestha.

Shrestha further said that many tourists have had to return from the airport due to the currency ban while they also faced various other problems.

According to Shrestha, the Indian tourists carry big notes with them. But the police stop them at airport during checking, he said.

Shrestha further said that the Indian tourists are unaware about the ban.

Shrestha argued that the ban imposed by the government will affect its plan to bring in 2 million tourists in 2020 as the majority of tourists are from India.

It is not practical for the tourists to carry a bulk of Rs 100 notes to visit Nepal, according to tourism entrepreneurs.