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Cash, cards & UPI
Money, Payments & Budgeting
India has largely leapfrogged cards and cash for everyday payments — UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is what almost everyone uses, everywhere, for almost everything. Understanding this before you land changes how you should prepare.
General guidance — fees, apps, and exchange rates change. See our full disclaimer on the hub page.
Understanding the rupee
Before getting into how to pay, here’s what you’re actually paying with.
Notes & coins in circulation
Banknotes: ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500. Coins: ₹1, ₹2, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20. The symbol is ₹.
What happened to the ₹2000 note
Withdrawn from circulation in May 2023 — over 98% has since been returned to banks. It’s technically still legal tender, but you’ll essentially never see or need one in day-to-day transactions anymore. If you somehow end up with one, it can be deposited or exchanged, but only through RBI issue offices, not everyday shops.
Keep a mix of small denominations (₹10-₹100) on hand — many auto-rickshaws, small vendors, and street stalls genuinely cannot break a ₹500 note for a small purchase, and it becomes a real friction point several times a day if you’re only carrying large bills.
Damaged or torn notes
Minor wear, tape repairs, or small tears are generally accepted without issue. Severely damaged or heavily taped notes may be refused by shops (though banks are required to exchange genuinely mutilated notes under RBI rules) — worth checking a note before accepting it in change if it looks rough.
Basic counterfeit awareness
Genuine notes have a visible security thread, a watermark matching the portrait, and (on ₹500 notes) color-shifting ink on the numeral that changes shade when tilted. You’re extremely unlikely to encounter counterfeits as a tourist making small daily purchases — this is more a background fact than something to actively worry about.
UPI: the thing that surprises every first-timer
Small vendors, street food stalls, auto-rickshaws, even temple donation boxes — nearly everyone has a UPI QR code. Visa/Mastercard tap-to-pay (NFC) is far less common than in the West.
UPI One World — a government-backed prepaid wallet launched specifically for foreign tourists — lets you use UPI without an Indian bank account or phone number. Load it via your international card, then pay any UPI QR code like a local. Physical kiosks (EbixCash, Thomas Cook) are right in the international arrivals halls at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru — see those airport guides for exact locations. Third-party apps like Mony and Cheq offer similar tourist-focused UPI wallets if you’d rather set up before you fly.
Your payment stack for India
Primary: UPI wallet
Covers 90% of daily spending — food, transport, small shops. Loading fee typically 2-4%. Monthly limits apply (commonly ~₹2,00,000) and it’s PIN-protected. Note: pays merchants only, not individuals.
Backup: a low-FX-fee card
A travel-friendly card (Wise, Revolut, or similar) for hotels, larger purchases, and anywhere UPI isn’t accepted. Notify your home bank before you travel to avoid fraud-flag declines.
Emergency: cash
Keep ₹5,000–10,000 on hand for situations where digital payment genuinely isn’t available. Common denominations: ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500.
Apple Pay & Google Pay: a common point of confusion
Apple Pay
Very limited acceptance — most Indian merchants use UPI QR codes, not NFC terminals. Don’t rely on it as a primary method.
Google Pay
Your home-country Google Pay (card-network based) is a different system from the Indian Google Pay app (UPI-based). You cannot link a foreign account to Indian UPI GPay — this catches a lot of visitors out.
ATMs, ATM safety & forex
Which ATMs to use
Stick to bank-branch ATMs (HDFC, ICICI, SBI, Axis, Kotak, Standard Chartered, YES Bank) rather than standalone street ATMs, which see more card-skimming incidents.
Currency exchange
Avoid airport and hotel exchange desks for large amounts — rates are meaningfully worse. Fine for small immediate-need amounts on arrival; use bank ATMs or registered forex counters in town for anything larger.
Tipping & bargaining
Tipping
Restaurant bills often already include a service charge plus GST — check before adding a tip on top. Where it’s not included, 5-10% is standard. Tour guides and drivers commonly receive ₹300-800/day for full-day service.
Bargaining
Expected and culturally normal in markets, with auto-rickshaws (if unmetered), and for handicrafts — not at fixed-price shops, chain stores, restaurants, or hotels. Initial asking prices often run 40-100% above the eventual price; starting a counter-offer around 40-50% of the quote is common practice.
Realistic daily budgets
A useful trick: ask your accommodation what a local would typically pay for a rickshaw or small purchase — expect to pay roughly double as a visible tourist, and use that as your negotiating anchor.
One more thing: trains
Booking Indian Railways tickets online requires an IRCTC account, which can be fiddly to set up from abroad (phone verification, payment card, email confirmation). Third-party sites like 12GoAsia or aggregators like MakeMyTrip/Cleartrip can simplify this, usually for a small booking fee.