Two government officials said Russian tourists stranded in India with no access to bank accounts, useless credit cards and a depreciable ruble crunch following Western sanctions.
As India and Russia are discussing an alternative payment mechanism, Indian tour operators have urged the Center to expedite the process. Officials said the Services Export Promotion Council has also sought a waiver on the $100 visa extension fee as visas of many Ukrainian and Russian tourists stranded in India, including Goa and Kerala, are about to expire.
Meanwhile, hotel and travel operators have sought the intervention of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade and the Department of Commerce as many tourists returning to Russia are yet to clear their dues.
International payment service providers such as Visa, American Express and MasterCard have suspended their Russian operations, with credit cards blocked on the network. Although Russian tourists have applied for new credit cards, applications are pending as banks have not yet issued cards using China’s UnionPay or Russia’s MIR.
Mint had earlier reported that Russia and India were exploring integration of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Bank of Russia’s Faster Payment System and integrating RuPay and MIR cards into the national payments infrastructure.
RuPay, which is operated by National Payments Corporation of India, facilitates online transactions, while MIR is a Russian government-sponsored card for local payments.
“We received several queries from tourism and travel operators on pending payments from Russian tourists. In some cases, they have returned to Russia from Goa or Kerala but have not yet paid in full. This will be resolved as part of an alternative payment mechanism,” said an official, who asked for anonymity.
“Before the start of the war (23 February), about 550 Russian tourists were landing in India every week on chartered flights or about 3,000 tourists a month. Many Russian and Ukrainian tourists are stranded in different parts of India, especially in Goa and Kerala,” said Karan Rathor, vice-chairman of SEPC.
“Tourists are now facing issues including currency devaluation, non-acceptance of credit cards and ease of travel to India. Russia is nationalizing Aero Float and all flights have been suspended.”
Email queries from spokespersons for India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Russian Embassy in New Delhi did not go unanswered.
Russia’s ruble strengthened against the US dollar on Friday to close at around 100, falling to a record low of 120 earlier this month after President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would sell gas to “unfriendly countries” in rubles.
However, tourists having an account with Sberbank in Russia have no problem as it has a branch in India. But those having an account with Citibank for example are facing problems, said a tour operator.
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