Money, Money, Money

Very interesting...

Officially, we cannot bring rupees into India. So we need to bring cash dollars or travellers cheques and change it into rupees in India. We can also use a credit card at the various ATMs to withdraw cash.
Most vendors accept Visa and Master. Amex has much lower acceptance at stores because they have high card charges. We can pay by credit card at hotels, restaurants and bigger shops.

It is illegal to pay in cash dollars.  Dollars can be paid only to those who are authorized to receive them, for example, you can pay dollars to authorized money changers and to some authorized hotels.

If you pay cash dollars to someone who is not authorized, they will sell the dollars in the underground hawala market. Such dollars usually end up financing illegal activities including terrorism. This is why the government does not allow it. We will still find many small shops in touristy areas saying yes we will take dollars, but it is not the right thing to do.

Source Trip Advisor

The Indian rupee is divided into 100 paise, but paise coins are increasingly rare. 

 Rupees notes come in 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 (this last bill can be hard to change outside banks). 

ATMs linked to international networks are common in most towns and cities in India. However, we need to carry cash or travellers cheques as backup in case the power goes down, the ATM is out of order, or we lose or break our plastic.

We must present our passport whenever we change currency or travellers cheques. Commission for foreign exchange is becoming increasingly rare; if it is charged, the fee is nominal.

Whenever changing money, we need check every note. Banks staple bills together into bricks, which puts a lot of wear on tear on the currency. we should not accept any filthy, ripped or disintegrating notes, as these may not be accepted as payment. If we get lumbered with such notes, we need change them to new bills at branches of the Reserve Bank of India in major cities.

Nobody in India ever seems to have change, so it’s a good idea to maintain a stock of smaller currency

Officially, we cannot take rupees out India, but this is laxly enforced.

Source: Lonely Planet

If you are interested click on this: Indian Rupiah