Charging different rates for foreigners and Indians is a common practice in India. At monuments, the substantially lower rate for Indians is often referred to as being government subsidised, to give Indians affordable access to the monuments. As confirmed by an India Tourism official in this article, the reason that foreigners pay more is because they earn more and have more money. It states:
Indians only pay 20 or 10 rupees to enter ASI sites, a difference often questioned by foreign tourists.
But officials say there is nothing wrong with this because most Indians earn far less than the foreign visitors.
“The uniform rate applied by most foreign countries are often too high for most Indians anyway,” the tourism ministry official told the BBC.
Personally, the foreigner rate at monuments doesn’t affect me because I have a PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card, issued to foreigners with Indian heritage or foreigners married to Indian citizens. As the article goes on to say:
“….the Indian government has also decided that nationals from the regional South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation will not have to pay the higher rate. Nor will people holding a government-issued People of Indian Origin (PIO) card.”
So, thankfully, I’m allowed to pay the Indian rate.
Nevertheless, the logic of foreigners earning more, and therefore paying more, is behind the “white tax” that we’re frequently charged all over India by vendors, shopkeepers, and other businesses.
In Mumbai, this even extends to treatment at some private hospitals, which impose surcharges of 25-50% on foreigners. This surcharge is imposed on anyone who isn’t an Indian citizen — even if they’re a resident of Mumbai and PIO card holder. Anyone who doesn’t have an Indian passport has to pay more.
I know of one expat who is married to an Indian and has been living in Mumbai for 17 years. She’s a housewife, so is dependent on her Indian husband financially. But guess what? The hospital, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, recently forced her to pay the surcharge. It’s a common story amongst us foreign spouses of Indians in Mumbai.
Despite the fact that even the Indian government states that PIO card holders are entitled to parity with NRIs and Indians citizens, except in regards to voting and buying agricultural land, these greedy private hospitals do not!
They term it a “management decision”.
We term it racial discrimination.
What else could it possibly be? We are not foreigners who are passing through India or have come here for medical tourism. India is our HOME. We are long term residents. Not visitors. Yet, because we’re not Indian, we have to pay a surcharge…even if our Indian husbands are forking out the money for our bill!
Where is the fairness, or even logic, in that? What makes these hospitals think that we don’t deserve to be treated equally, when even the Indian government does?
Has this experience happened to you? Please share it in the comments section.
(Note: I’m glad to say that Hiranandani Hospital in Powai, which is my local private hospital, offers equal pricing for all).
© 2013, Diary of a White Indian Housewife. All rights reserved. Do not copy and reproduce text or images without permission.
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