Many hotels in the Indonesian Island of Bintan have stopped accepting Singapore Dollars as a form of payment following a new policy implemented by the Indonesian government saying that all transactions must be in the Rupiah.
In the past, hotels in Bintan often accepted Singapore Dollars as well as US Dollars for payment. Now, everything must be in the Rupiah.
The Indonesian embassy here explained that the policy was not actually a new one and it has in fact been in place since June 2011.
It seems that it is just a case of increased enforcement of the law and it is not known why the sudden change.
Some news reports explained that the change was in preparation of the ASEA economic Community next year so that the Indonesian Rupiah can be more widely used.
While the move may make things more inconvenient for visitors from Singapore, it is not expected to affect tourist numbers or costs for Singaporeans.
Currently, the “new” policy doesn’t seem to be enforced n Batam yet which sees much more daily visitors from Singapore.
However, it is expected that the same policy will be put in place there soon.