Moving To South Delhi

Aussie-Roger

Hi Everyone

I must say this site is fantastic and has really helped with my research for India.

My name is Roger, I am 25yrs old and I am in the process helping my family relocate to Delhi for 12 months. This is not a holiday rather a must for us. My mother suffered a brain stem stroke two years ago and we have exhausted all types of treatment here in Western Australia where we live.

The only treatment which may give my mother a chance at a semi normal life is stem cell treatment which is not accepted or allowed here in Australia.

My mother has no quality of life, she is unable to speak or move a muscle, she breaths through a tracheostomy tube and can only communicate through eye blinking or movement.. My dad and sister left their jobs and care for my mother 24/7. We have turned our house into a mini hospital and done what most medical professionals consider impossible (Taking someone in my mothers condition home is un heard of) My mothers condition is so rare that there is no high level care facilities here which can accomodate her. This was our only option.

We are heading to india for a year of treatment and hope my mother's condition will improve. Any small improvement would make a huge difference to our lives.

We have found an apartment which caters for our specific needs of Air cons, Backup Power, Large door ways for a wheel chair, RO Water System, Security, and house keeping 6 days a week. Its located in Shanti Kunj. I was wondering if this is a good area to live in Delhi? We have been quoted Rs 110 000 perth month for this 3 bedroom 3 bathroom place. Is this a good price or are we being ripped off?

We have also been told that electricity is Rs 6.5 per unit. Do you not just open an account with the power company? Is this normal practice to pay the landlord for power??

Our situation is rather complex as we can't just get on a flight and come to Delhi. My mother is going to be transfered by Air Ambulance with a medical team.

We are sending over alot of our stuff and specific medical items for my mothers care in a sea container. I personally will be arriving in delhi before the rest of my family to have the goods delivered and our new home setup ready to go.

I will need to setup a bank account for us as we are transfering money from Australia in order to pay for living etc. What is a good bank with minimal fees.. Is it going to be hard to setup an account considering I am not from India?

What is the best option for internet service in Delhi? Do they have high speed ADSL 2 or 2+? Is cable better or cheaper?? Are you limited with the download amounts? Internet will be important for us to communicate back home to the family and friends. Is the internet expensive? From what i have found like Airtel etc its not that cheap, compared with Australia. I thought india would be way more advanced..

What is my best option for mobile phones in Delhi? should I just go on a prepaid? I will have my own phone.. Whats a good phone company to go with?

We should be in India before the end of the year we are waiting for a confirmation date from the shipping company when our goods will arrive and I hope this gives us a fresh start for my mother..

Can anyone give me a rough idea of how much a cook and driver would cost per month? As our lives are very busy with the level of care for my mother it would be helpful to have such services.

I am sure I will ask many more questions and I hope I can meet some of you when I arrvie in Delhi as I will not know anyone..

Thanks for reading..

Roger

dillichaat

The only shanti kunj I know off is actually in Vasant Kunj and that's a good area. Price seems right for what you describe IF it really is where I suppose it is (better check or await others' input)and if all the things you describe are really there. I'd normally say that it's a very bad idea to rent something that you haven't seen but this is an exceptional situation. If you want to and can arrange it with the owner I'm willing to go there, take a look and report back to you.

It is but make sure there's a separate meter, registered to the landlord of course. Where I am i pay 7.5 Rs/unit. He has to provide you with a copy of the bill.

Not hard at all but first you need to have proof of address, which means a registration with the FRRO/residence card or a bill or something. I'm with Deutsche Bank, they're at CP. The account is free if you maintain a 40000 Rs balance. Money transfer from the EU costs me about 700 Rs with shared costs for 2500 EUR and takes 4 banking days.

It's not cheap and you have many plans available. I'm with airtel on a 8 Mbps/20 Gb/month plan @4444 Rs/month. In reality I get about 4 Mbps max but that's ok. Before they can install this (took 2 days with me) they need proof of residence, this is the hardest part when you arrive.

I'm again with Airtel and happy wth them. They need to have your id and for the postpaid plans, proof of address. Not sure about prepaid.

Cook: depends but I pay 6000 for 5 days/week half time. This is for a good one who does western dishes and speaks english. Fulltime should be no more than 12000/month for a top-notch cook. Driver: depends, between 6000 and 10000 for 8-10 hours per day. For 10000 he has to speak english. I pay 25000/month for the car and the driver.

For the power backup: I assume your mother is not on a ventilator? If that's the case and you have good backup then you'll be ok but if not, get a failproof system, a ventilator has its own battery but that doesn't last as long as some power cuts.

And last but not least: I wish you and your family all the best and hope that the treatment will do something! Feel free to contact me if you need any assistance.

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All a prepaid connection requires are: a couple of passport size photographs, and an ID card(eg passport). Nothing else required!

The leading mobile service providers inIndia are Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom, Reliance, Cell one and Idea! You can chose between any of these! My personal fav is Airtel though!

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Aussie-Roger

Hey Dillichaat

Thanks for taking the time to reply very helpful! I will def need to get an FRRO/Residence card..

My mother is not on a ventilator its just manily for suction equipment to clear her airway.. all the machines have backup batteries but a place with a generator is ideal for us. This is what we have setup here.. I have never had to use it however our power supply is fairly good in Western Australia. I was going to take our generator with us however its rather large and is impossible to move..

The internet shocks me.. That works out to over 100 AUD per month for an ADSL 1 connection. At the moment I pay in rupee about Rs3000 for an ADSL2+ (24Mbps) connection which gives you 60GB of download per month.. you dont get full 24Mbps however you can download rather fast.. Not to mention free VOIP which you can use to call any landline in Australia for free.

Do you need to pay a phone line rental as well in order to have the ADSL connection?

Aussie-Roger

Hey Dillichaat

Thanks for taking the time to reply very helpful! I will def need to get an FRRO/Residence card..

My mother is not on a ventilator its just manily for suction equipment to clear her airway.. all the machines have backup batteries but a place with a generator is ideal for us. This is what we have setup here.. I have never had to use it however our power supply is fairly good in Western Australia. I was going to take our generator with us however its rather large and is impossible to move..

The internet shocks me.. That works out to over 100 AUD per month for an ADSL 1 connection. At the moment I pay in rupee about Rs3000 for an ADSL2+ (24Mbps) connection which gives you 60GB of download per month.. you dont get full 24Mbps however you can download rather fast.. Not to mention free VOIP which you can use to call any landline in Australia for free.

Do you need to pay a phone line rental as well in order to have the ADSL connection?

Lindsay

Hi, Aussie-Roger, I'm sure you have researched this, but because I whiled away some time at the FRRO by reading up on different sorts of visas, I thought I would just make sure! It sounds like a lot of you are coming -- I recall reading that the medical visa (M-Visa) allows only for two attendants (MX visa). I guess the rest would come on tourist visas (only 180 days at a time)? I don't know, something to look into, if you haven't.

The bank account, lease, etc. had better be in the name of the people coming on the MX visa, because those are the ones who will be able to register at the FRRO and procure important documentation required to set up a bank account.

Which leads me to this question --

Yes, unless there are special provisions in place for medical visa holders, I think it would be hard to set up a bank account in India before you have registered in person at the FRRO in the Indian city where you will be residing. As DilliChaat noted, all the banks here require that documentation, as well as proof of residence, which might be a notarized lease, or a utility bill, etc.

Maybe if you're a PIO (person of Indian origin) there might be a way around this?

I also want to say -- wow. You sound like an amazing family. Best, best wishes to you all.

KABAARY

Shanti Kunj is slightly off Vasant Kunj...and are you kidding me when you say that Rs. 110,000 per month seems right ? It's way over priced !! In fact, it's daylight robbery.

Rent of three bed room flat in V. Kunj : Rs. 20,000-25,000 p.m.
Inverter in lieu of back up : Rs. 15,000 odd (one time capital cost)

A/c : Rs. 20,000 approx. per a/c - one time capital cost.

RO water system : Rs. 8,000 approx. - one time capital cost.

Security : Part of the community deal so you don't pay anything extra other than the monthly maintenance charge if the landlord insists that you pay for it.

House keeping : Hire someone at a max of Rs. 1,000 p.m. to do the cleaning.

All said and done...far cheaper than Rs. 110,000 p.m.

Shivani Skydancer

Hi Roger

It's easy to set up a bank account in India. I'm not Indian and was not registered with FRRO, and was on a tourist visa.

I have a savings account that was opened with Punjab National Bank. All they asked for was a note from the reception at my guesthouse saying that I'm staying there, with the guesthouse stamp on it. My guesthouse didn't even have a stamp, so the guy just signed his name on the back of their business card. And the bank was happy with that. The only other thing they needed was a passport photo, and photocopies of my passport and visa. And that is all, my account was set up within an hour!!

Wish you all the best with your mum's treatment!! Incidentally, it surprises me that you say stem cell therapy is unavailable in Australia. My dad had stem cell therapy in Brisbane, at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Mater Hospital also offer this treatment. It saved his life! What's more, public Medicare covered most of the costs.

LilBoy BigTown

I will be surprised if a 3 bedder in Vasant Kunj was this cheap, but feel free to correct me.

KABAARY

Feeling free...or am I renting out my VK flat cheap ?

In any case, Rs. 110,000 is extortionist....

LilBoy BigTown

It is entirely possible for 2 similar sized properties in the same area to have vastly different rentals. It would come down to the state, age of the property, facilities within it and so on.

Hard to say without going into each of its specifics.

Lindsay

What?!? Really? Kotak Mahindra had me jump through some serious hoops in comparison. My FRRO booklet wasn't good enough on its own -- I needed a police registration form, too (as proof of address)! And I am still waiting for the account to be finalized -- this, despite the fact that I have a local reference who banks with them.

Shivani, was this before the new security measures were passed (post the Mumbai attacks)? If so, I guess the moral of this story is, shop around for your bank!

Shivani Skydancer

Hi Lindsay
Sorry, I didn't think of that! I opened my account in July last year. Guess I'm lucky to have it now, cause it would be very difficult to get these days with new security measures.

dillichaat

Kabaary, I'm afraid you overlook two crucial elements in this whole pricing thing: the persons wishing to rent are white, so the gora tax applies. Only this will already make a serious difference. Secondly, they're renting remotely so there is no room for bickering and negotiations. For the rest it all depends on the property and the quality of the fittings etc. When I was looking for an apartment last year I regularly got quoted prices between 1.5 and 2 lacs in that area (ok, before negotiations). You must be the only owner who doesn't squeeze foreigners in all of Delhi I think But even then, if you've got a decent 3 BHK in Vasant Kunj and you're willing to rent it out at 30K/month, send me a pm and I'll sign the papers immediately, on the condition that I can sublet it.

Aussie-Roger

Hey Thanks for all the input

What is Gora Tax?

The place also in furnished so i guess that would be a bit more as well..

I have another question.. Regarding travel insurance for the rest of my family since we are going over for the year is this worth getting or is there some kind on local expat health insurance we could get for the time we are in Delhi?

Its been very hard to try get a good deal when we are soo far away and like you said being from overseas everyone assumes we have alot of money! I wish this was the case!