Foreign tourists visiting the most famous landmarks of India - the Taj Mahal, will no longer be able to pay the entrance fee in dollars. The Indian government has made this ruling following a depreciating dollar, which would cause a decline in tourism revenue.
Until now, foreign tourists had the option of paying the entrance fee to the Taj in either dollar or the Indian rupee. The ruling that will become effective from next week will require foreign tourists to pay either Rs 250 or Rs 100. This will be applicable not only in the Taj Mahal but also in the other 120 sites run by the Archaeological Survey of India, of which 27 are World Heritage sites.
International tourists have often complained of the hefty entrance fees extracted from them while the Indian tourists require paying only Rs 20 or Rs 10. The Indian government claims that there is nothing wrong with the apparent discrimination as an average foreigner earns more than an Indian common person. However, the government has decided that the nationals from the SAARC countries and the people with People of Indian Origin card will not be required to pay the high fee.
Source:bbc
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Comments
investigative article
The title is not apt. Taj Mahal may be one of the most visited tourist sites but there are hoardes of others which also have stopped accepting dollar as entry fees
nice., thanks for giving this idea.
We all know that Taj mahal is a great tourist destination but thinking of changing their policies, I think it’ll be loss for their government. Most of the times, tourist prefer to get convenience, it would be hard for them to go to foreign exchange store just to change money to enjoy the scene. The government should take a look on this policy again. blue taj hotel