DUBAI Exchange houses in the UAE are waiving charges on remittances to Nepal in the aftermath of the massive earthquake that has claimed thousands of lives and left many homeless.
“This will be implemented across all our branches in the UAE and other ‘send countries’ where there are large remittances to Nepal,” said Sudhir Shetty, president, UAE Exchange.
“There are 300,000 Nepalese expatriates in the UAE. This is our small way of showing goodwill to the community,” he said.
Last year UAE Exchange sent $500 million worth of remittances to Nepal in 800,000 transactions.
Free of cost
The company has also contributed $100,000 (Dh368,000) towards the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Nepal. “UAE residents can contribute to this fund through UAE Exchange free of cost till end May.”
Similarly, Lulu International Exchange also dropped its remittance charges for a month effective April 28. “The recent earthquake in Nepal was a devastating tragedy for everybody. We share a close bond with the Nepalese community in the UAE as they are major contributors of remittances from here. Ever since the tragedy, people have been rushing to send home money. Cutting fee costs was just a small way of contributing to this diaspora,” said Adeeb Ahamed, CEO LuLu International Exchange.
Xpress Money, a global money remittance firm, also waived its fees. “This will be applicable to our branches in UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar until end of May,” said Sudhesh Giriyan, COO.
The company is also sending aid to those affected by the earthquake. “We will provide 300 makeshift tents accommodating 9,000 people in Sindhuphalchowk, one of the worst affected cities.”
