Google glitch drives UAE expats to exchanges

The Indian rupee briefly plunged to about 24.8 versus the UAE dirham yesterday, as per rates aggregated by Google, before stabilising to 19.98 about an hour later. The momentary plunge sent UAE expats rushing to exchanges and banks for confirmation.

However, the Indian rupee was at 73.48 against the US dollar and no exchanges or banks reflected this plunge in rates. The prices fluctuated between Rs 23 to Rs 24.83 against one dirham, according to Google data, which reflects real-time exchange rate data provided by USbased financial services firm Morningstar.

Check the rates

Expats should check rates with local exchanges and/or banks before making any money transactions based on these rate fluctuations. Also, note that the Indian currency market trading hours are from 0900 Indian Standard Time (IST) to 1700 IST, indicating that trading had ended when the brief spike in rates were seen.