Bank credibility

The time has come again that I, as a foreigner, must pay my yearly taxes of US$1,200. It is the rule that these taxes must be paid at a central BRI bank in Jakarta.

Because I knew I had to pay this $1,200, I had asked a friend to bring me dollars from my overseas bank account. What happened at the bank was incredible. They refused to take the notes because there were some very small chops made in the past by a teller machine and, despite the fact that the notes were from 1997, BRI could not accept them, although they were taken directly from a reputable international bank.

Now, I really wonder what is happening here. Things are really getting crazy and all our foreign and local friends were astonished and ashamed that even in these days with the Aku Cinta Rupiah drive, the notes cannot be accepted by the bank. Is it not an obligation of the bank if the notes are genuine, to accept them?

I would very much appreciate a reaction from BRI or even BI on this matter.

ANTON HOVERS

Jakarta