Different Strokes

Don't look at us, we've no moneyWith Rahul Bajaj as President of the CII, the media can look forward to an interesting year full of quota...

Don8217;t look at us, we8217;ve no money
With Rahul Bajaj as President of the CII, the media can look forward to an interesting year full of quotable quotes and juicy sound bites. Bajaj is the rare industrialist today who believes in looking controversy in the eye and doesn8217;t shirk from creating one by voicing strong views. He has kicked off his term in style by telling politicians where they get off. He said 8212; don8217;t look at us business houses, we will not fund you every year. In India, the focus on favours in return for political funding have ensured that business as a class has no real clout. Hopefully businessmen will take Bajaj8217;s lead. Parties are already feeling the pinch. The whining by the smaller parties and their demand for taxpayer funds to fight elections is the proof. Hopefully citizens will protest the use of their money for a worthless cause.

Indica stumbles on deadlines
India8217;s only truly Swadeshi car Indica has been having a spot of trouble. If there are less Indicas on theroad than Santros or Matizs, it is because the company is still ironing out glitches in the car. Regulars at Mumbai8217;s prestigious Willingdon Club are talking about how an influential member was badly injured when the Indica, which was being put through its paces on the Telco test track near Pune, suddenly turned turtle. The story got around because the member was forced to show up before the club8217;s formal membership committee in bandages and casual clothes instead of the mandatory lounge suit and explained his reason for doing so. The Indica has been test driven by several auto experts, so the problem could well have been one peculiar to that particular car, but it probably explains why the number of Indicas issued so far are a fraction of the number scheduled for issue.

Service industry 8212; desi style
The service industry may want to provide world-class service, but the slowdown and poor recovery norms are killing their initiatives. Four experiences in one week surely point to a trend. Abusinessman looking for new phone lines in the busy business district found that MTNL had given up some of its simplified procedures. He was told by an MTNL official that procedures had been tightened up ever since someone obtained 130 lines, ran up huge bills and simply refused to pay. HSBC8217;s credit card is another example. It had a tie-up with Thomas Cook to offer its gold cardholders delivery of airline tickets at their doorstep. It wanted cardholders to register with the travel company. Last week, Thomas Cook refused to oblige. It wanted people to come to their office and sign for tickets. The reason: they haven8217;t been paid for a large number of tickets because of disputes with the bank. Similar stories are to be had from cellphone users in Mumbai. One person had his service disconnected thrice in just over a week by Maxtouch, because its system made mistakes in recording the payment. Another one with an inter-city roaming facility, which refused to work, was used up for nearly half an hour while BPLstruggled to connect his roaming line and gave up. Can all these examples be written off as aberrations or do they say something about service businesses?

Service VSNL style
Let8217;s look at the VSNL, which has been issuing huge newspaper ads for its internet service. I dialed its information service and you go through at least four cycles of dial 1 for blah, dial 2 for blah 8230;8217; instructions before getting to the internet section. As of Saturday, it would need at least two telephone calls over 3 minutes to get any information. I gave up and tried the regular phone/fax numbers instead. quot;Can application forms be faxed or downloaded,quot; I ask. The reply: 8220;I am too busy to send you a fax madam, please come here and collect it8221;. Here, is 12 km across the city. Immediate connections are possible only if you bring a demand draft or a pay order. Cash is not accepted and everything else takes time.

Author8217;s e-mail:suchetadalalyahoo.com