'Frustrating trying to do anything in India as a foreigner': Redditor slams India's tech issues
Despite India's impressive strides in technology and the Digital India initiative, a recent foreigner's critique reveals a stark reality: navigating daily life in India can be challenging for a non-Indian and the country may not always be as welcoming to outsiders in this case. This insight underscores a significant gap between India¡¯s technological advancements and the on-the-ground experiences of foreigners.
A Redditor, who is a non-Indian, shed light on the issue saying, "Frustrating trying to do anything in India as a foreigner."
They said, "The experience in India has been great, except that I need a phone number to do anything!"
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"When I went to order food at KFC, or McDonalds, the kiosk asks me for a phone number. When I want to order food at 3 am (because jetlag), all of the delivery apps need an indian phone number. Most shops, even large Western food chains like Mcd, subway, etc, don't accept international payment cards. My credit or debit cards throw an error on the machine with 'international cards not supported'. To get access to UPI, i need to go through a multi day process with a provider like cheq.," they added.
They emphasised that the entire process is very frustrating, pointing out: "India has grown exponentially with its technology, but no thought was put into how foreigners would work in this system."
They also mention: "Buying a sim card requires ID, proof of Indian citizenship, etc, which I obviously don't have as a foreigner. I don't necessarily want an Indian phone number either, but it doesn't make sense to me why these delivery apps don't accept foreigners. Hell, they could even charge extra fees to cover any fees," concluding: "It really sucks!"
How did social media react: 'Loss for the Indian economy'
In the comments, many people related to the Redditor's frustration.?
One person shared, "We faced the exact same situation. It was impossible to get a phone number without an identification card (Aadhar card) which we can't get unless we are in India and only in specific offices on specific days. We were very unprepared for it."
Another commented, "This. The amount of times I lost it because I didn't get an OTP is too damn high. It's so annoying!!! At least send me an email with the OTP too then!! (Looking at you SBI). Sending money to my Indian account/ordering anything for my parents is such a hassle, I hate it!"
Another user noted: "to open a regular UPI account, I need to open an NRI / Foreigner bank account (I am not an NRI; I'm a full foreigner) , which can take multiple days, even a week. Even after that, because I don't have Aadhar, I need to go through a whole round of ID proving at each stage to get access. I'm only here for 6 days; there's no point in me doing it. I was able to use the Cheq app for Foreigners, which worked, and thankfully, I now have UPI. However this process itself took 3-4 days, so you can see how this doesn't really work for short stays. It just really sucks. Even a lot of ATM's don't accept me card so i can't even get cash!"
One commenter added, "Experienced this issue at mumbai T2. you need to go to a counter and stand in line just so they can connect your phone to airport wifi. You need an indian sim to get the otp otherwise. Frustrating after a 16 hour flight."
Another summed up the sentiment: "It is totally the Indian economy's loss."
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