I am, therefore I should think

Retailers in B'lore take consumers for a ride - 2

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:07:53 PDT

Read Retailers in B'lore take consumers for a ride... first.

And some more episodes:

1. Foodworld: charged higher than MRP on packaged goods. Stock on the shelf is old, while the price on the system is new.

2. Central: charged higher than MRP on packaged goods. Stock on the shelf is old, while the price on the system is new.

3. Central: double billed, i.e. the same item was billed twice during checkout. Got the store manager to write "wrong billing" and sign on the bill this time.

4. Spencers: Bought a clothes drying rack. Came home, removed Spencer's sticker and voila! the MRP written below was far lower, and had been painted over with black ink. This is by far the most interesting case: blatant disregard for laws, overcharging on MRP, fraud... ah my mouth is watering.

Anyway, evidence collection is going on good. I want to take multiple retailers to court at one shot. No point in doing this one by one.

Now what would make this a very powerful case is to try for a class action suit, or what is known as a public litigation. If you would like to be a part of this case, do please let me know. You would not need to do anything, except be able to show me proof / and or an affidavit showing one or more cases of cheating / fraud / double billing / over charging on MRP / not given freebies / whatever, and I will do all the court running around. Now for all the lazy bones who wont lift a finger to help themselves, is that a good deal or what?

Retailers in B'lore take consumers for a ride...

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:31:14 PST

...and consumers in B'lore are enjoying it.

Time and again, I've found clear cases of cheating and fraud by all the big retail names in Bangalore: Foodworld leads the list, but the others (Reliance, Spencers, Spar, Monday 2 Sunday) are not far behind.

Sample Foodworld's blitzkrieg advertising, with banners hanging everywhere: "lowest prices for vegetables in B'lore". Once at a Foodworld I bought some veges under such an offer. Then stepped across to the Monday 2 Sunday next door and what do I find? Almost all the veges that I'd bought were cheaper there. Went back to the Foodworld and forcefully returned all the veges I'd bought. The manager had no excuse to make.

Other cases at Foodworld: the price on the shelf will show a price lower than MRP as a "special offer", the price at check-out will be the MRP. This is quite common. The price sticker for items not carrying MRP will show something, the price at check-out will be higher. For this kind of stuff I have the usual remedy: call the manager, make a racket in front of other customers, finally get the lower price in all cases.

I have already posted about Liquor sold above MRP. Found this in both Spencers and Foodworld. Still following that up.

Another case is where some freebie is being given by the manufacturer, one has to be aware and remember to take it. Its not going to be given by the store with compliments.

Latest incident at Spar: while billing I found that 2 items has been charged over MRP. And a discount that was supposed to be given was not given. Called the manager, created a racket in front of other customers, got the money back and apologies, etc. Got some senior manager's name and address. Will send in a written complaint.

And so and and so forth :/ Sample another post by Neeraj here: Two examples of how retailers are looting customers - Total Mall Sarjapur Road and Vishal Mega Mart Hosur Road.

Why do retailers cheat and commit such small fraud? Quite simple: because YOU dear consumer are allowing them to. The retailers have found that they can get away with it. Consumers don't care. Or if they do, they cant be bothered. I s'pose consumers in India (or at least Bangalore) think its below their dignity to fight when their modesty is being violated.

Why are consumers here so apathetic to their own condition? Why don't people shout, abuse, threaten? Hell, why don't people even check their bills at check-out? If they would be even aware that they are being cheated, perhaps they would shout, abuse and threaten. But most of the times, I see people wheeling fully loaded carts to check-out, standing around chatting while the billing is being done, then swiping their cards and walking out. Where does such trust come from? Or is it too demeaning to check that the prices are correct, that the discounts are being applied, that the freebies are being given?

Well, if consumers are so naive then they deserve to get fooled. After all, caveat emptor. Unfortunately, all this behavior does is increase corruption in an already corrupt country.

Perils of the new Direct Tax Code for long term investors

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:58:56 PST

A new (draft) Direct Tax Code (DTC) from April 2011 has been proposed by the Hon'ble Indian Finance Minister in Aug 2009. The DTC has undergone quite favorable analysis. Sample articles like this: New tax code: Pay 10% tax on Rs 10-lakh salary, or Decoding the direct tax code.

Unfortunately, what articles like these have not brought out is the massive impact on long term investors of one simple clause which removes the distinction between Short Term Capital Gains (STCG) and Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG). Currently, LTCG on equity is taxed at 0%, while STCG is taxed at 15%. After April 2011, a gain on account of transfer of equity will be taxed at personal taxation slab rates, irrespective of when it was acquired. In essence this means that the taxation of 0% on LTCG on equity is being abolished with retrospective effect!

Capital gains are voluntary, i.e. chargeable to tax when profits are booked. Imagine that you invested in equity for many years and remained invested through the vagaries of the stock market. Along comes April 2011, and any sale of these long term assets will attract a tax of upto 30%. But what will the intelligent investor do? Sell all these assets in March 2011, thus attracting no tax on the LTCG.

But since we all are intelligent investors (hic), everyone and his uncle will be getting rid of equity when 2011 comes around. My prediction: we are going to see the biggest stock market crash in history. Hang around and have fun.

PS: Whats the government thinking? Huh? Isn't that an oxymoron? Anyway, if you think this is one irritating little clause that has been slipped in by the babus in Dilli, then please do your bit as a shining new Indian by writing a Comment on Direct Taxes Code and please do take some time to Rate the Direct Taxes Code.

Airtel and Citibank: change for the better?

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:05:43 PDT

Whats up with Airtel and Citibank? These two companies had offered me mediocre service in the past. And in some instances had also caused me much grief. But things sure seems to have changed for the better.

Citibank service seems to have become superlative. Customer service touch points are excellent. The online access is quite perfect and serves all my needs, so are the account statements, the informative emails and messages I receive, etc etc. I haven't been mischarged for some unwanted service in a long long time. In fact Citi even gallantly reversed a charge on my credit card when (by oversight) I didnt pay the full amount due a couple of months ago. Finally, a couple of things have recently happened which have turned me into a delighted customer: I got an email from Citi asking whether I would like my credit card replaced free of charge since I'd swiped it recently in Thailand and they "foresee a possibility of misuse". (BTW, I'd similarly replaced my Citi credit card some years ago when Citi asked me after I'd used my card in some other country.) And Citibank has started soliciting feedback for service touch point interactions. Which needless to say, is a must for organizations engaged in the service industry.

Airtel service also seems to have become superlative. Customer service touch points have become far better, specially for prepaid mobile service. Service in general was quite excellent for Airtel broadband, but the prepaid mobile service used to be downright sucky. Call drops rates were quite high, invariably at the start of the minute which used to be quite frustrating. Trying to reach a service exec would leave one floundering in a flurry of button presses while navigating the IVRS maze. Call drops are a thing of the past (I hope). Its much easier to reach a service exec these days. The personnel are better trained, they speak better, they interact better, and they provide meaningful answers for a change. Finally, a couple of things have recently happened which have turned me into a delighted customer: My call charges have been reduced by Airtel. Cynical me says they were forced to do so what with all the fancy new offers floating around by Reliance and Docomo and Bee-Bop-Boo. But the fact remains that have reduced the charge without intervention by me. And like Citibank, Airtel has started soliciting feedback for service touch point interactions via toll free SMSes!

Getting to BIAL early in the morning

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:04:41 PDT

Hahahah... how unlivable can this city be?

I need to catch a 6 am flight tomorrow and have been trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to the new Bangalore International airport. I need to get there no later than 5 am, which means I need to leave at about 3:30 am from where I stay (JP Nagar).

The earliest BMTC Vayu Vajra Volvo Service bus from Jayanagar IVth block is 4am, while the earliest from BTM Layout is 4:30. For obviously reasons, I cant take either.

I called up BMTC airport kiosk to find out other options, and they said that buses from Majestic will leave at 3:00am, 3:30 and 3:55. Excellent.

But having past experience with the likes of BMTC I called up the Kempegowda Bus Stand to cross check. These guys had a different story. They said between 12:00 am and 4 am, Vajra buses are every hour only. So no buses at 3:30 and 3:55. Good thing I cross checked.

Armed with this info, I called up Celcabs which is the official feeder service for BIAL buses and they said there are no buses from Majestic before 6 am!

(On a side note, I was surprised how helpful the guys were. They refused to take a booking unless I was quite sure that I would get a bus at 3:00 am. Which of course I was not.)

Then I started checking the net for information on traveling on the Volvos at night and chanced upon the scanned schedules of the BIAL service in BMTC Vayu Vajra Volvo Service to Airport (BIAL) Timings and Schedule, which bears out what Celcabs said.

Finally, I thought I would call up the special BMTC number given for Route 9 on the last scanned schedule page to cross check all the info yet again. The first number is always busy. The second goes to someone's residence!

BMTC, I bow down before your superior service.

Tomorrow I will take my trusted cab service, Easycabs to the airport and hang the expense.

Welcome all to the armpit of the world: Namma Bangaluru.

PS: Big thanks to Vinay for taking the huge trouble of scanning and posting the BMTC Vajra schedules!

Example for new Perqusite Tax versus old Fringe Benefit Tax

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:46:41 PDT

An example for the previous post "FBT removed in Budget 09-10. Time to rejoice? Think again."

An employee is awarded X shares under an RSU plan, with a vesting date 4 years in the future. The RSUs are awarded at face value, say INR 2.

4 years later, on the vesting date, the stock price is at an all time high of INR 102 i.e. the FMV = INR 102. After the vesting date, irrespective of when the employee exercises his options (i.e. buys the shares from the company), the notional value per RSU is already fixed = INR 100. Even if the employee exercises his options later, he has to pay FBT of about INR 34 per option when he exercises.

Say, after the vesting date, the employee waits for another 6 months or a year before deciding to exercise. Now consider a market crash, as has happened. IT stocks being particularly susceptible, would steeply drop. The stock price drops to INR 32. The RSUs are almost worthless now! The notional capital gain is INR 30 per RSU. While the employee has to pay INR 34 to the government per RSU. Unless one is sure that the stock price will increase drastically in the future, there is no point in exercising the RSU. (And if someone says he is sure about the stock market, he's either stupid or joking.)

With the new taxation rules, the same situation is much better. Say, the employee decides to exercise at INR 32, he will pay a perq tax of about INR 9 (at a marginal tax rate of 30%).

Even without a market crash, one is perhaps better off since the price of stocks varies over a period of time. Perhaps the stock price was at an all time high around the vesting date (as in the example above, at INR 102). A few months later, any number of real or imaginary concerns can bring down the price sharpely. Say the stock price drops to INR 62. Thus the perq tax that needs to be paid is about INR 18. Thats nearly half the previous FBT per RSU.

Finally, after exercise of the stock options, the employee should wait for a year before making a sale, which would be a long term capital gain and hence exempt from tax.

FBT removed in Budget 09-10. Time to rejoice? Think again.

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:08:15 PDT

In yesterday's Indian Union Budget 2009-10, the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) has been proposed to be abolished. The FBT has been a pain for ESOP holders, ever since ESOPs were brought under FBT in 2007. Since then, Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) have had to pay the FBT on the notional value of the ESOPs. The notional value of the ESOPS = Fair Market Value on vesting date - exercise price. And the FBT rate was a huge 30% per cent plus applicable surcharge plus education cess. Note that the FBT was actually an employer tax which was happily being passed by most employers to the employee. Nothing like being an employer in India, right?

Anyway, since then, companies (esp in the IT sector) have been trying to get the FBT removed. And it seems that their efforts have borne fruit. And everyone is rejoicing. For instance see article: Goodbye FBT… ESOPs just got better again! in India Infoline, FBT abolition should help attract talent in the Deccan Herald, Budget is clicking the right buttons to improve IT infrastructure in The Financial Express. But these articles are almost certainly mis-educating the general public.

Contrary to what you might think, removal of FBT does not mean that taxation of ESOPs will stop. All that has happened is that the taxation in the hands of the employer has been shifted to the employee. So ESOPs, among other items will be treated as perquisite in the hands of the employee and taxed at the prevalent slab rates. Which for most of us will change nothing at all.

The only silver lining that I can see is in the calculation of the notional value of the ESOPs. Previously, the employee had no say in the matter, the notional value was the difference between the Fair Market Value on vesting date - exercise price. Now it will be Fair Market Value on exercise date - exercise price. The vesting date is not under the employee's control, but the exercise date is. Prices of stocks fluctuate... by waiting for an opportune time, one could decide the exercise date at a point where the stock price is agreeably low, and hence reduce the FMV. A long term sale subsequently will reduce the capital gains to 0, hence one can profit from a low FMV.

Example for new Perqusite Tax versus old Fringe Benefit Tax.

Liquor sold above MRP - 5

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:22:57 PDT

Ah, I have some new knowledge. From The Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977:

23. Provisions relating to whole sale dealer and retail dealers:
(2) No retail dealer or other person including manufacturer, packer and wholesale dealer shall make any sale of any commodity in packaged form at a price exceeding the retail sale price thereof.

(4) Where, after any commodity has been pre-packed for sale, any tax payable in relation to such commodity is revised, the retail dealer or any other person shall not make any retail sale of such commodity at a price exceeding the revised retail sale price, communicated to him by the manufacturer, or where the manufacturer is not the packer, the packer and it shall be the duty of the manufacturer or packer, as the case may be, to indicate by not less than two advertisements in one or more newspapers and also by circulation of notices to the dealers and to the Director in the Central Government and Controllers of Legal Metrology in the States and Union Territories, the revised prices of such packages but the difference between the price marked on the package and the revised price shall not, in any case, be higher than the extent of increase in the tax or in the case of imposition of fresh tax higher than the fresh tax so imposed:

Provided that publication in any newspaper, of such revised price shall not be necessary where such revision is due to any increase in, or in imposition of, any tax payable under any law made by the State Legislatures:
Provided further that the retail dealer or other person shall not charge such revised prices in relation to any packages except those packages which bear marking indicating that they were pre-packed in the month in which such tax has been revised or fresh tax has been imposed or in the month immediately following the month aforesaid.

(5) Nothing in sub-rule (4) shall apply to a package which is not required under these rules to indicate the month and the year in which it was pre-packed.

The text above in bold is all I need. It is quite clear that old stock cannot be sold at a higher price. Now I've to check the packaging date of the liquor bottles that I'm still hanging on to to file a case.

Liquor sold above MRP - 4

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:33:57 PDT

In another article (Yeddyurappa ‘castes’ the dice for LS polls) I find:

The share of profit by the retail liquor sellers would be reduced and without increasing the minimum retail price of the IMFL.

The additional excise duty on IMFL would also be reviewed. The government orders would be issued shortly.

And what the hell is "minimum retail price"?? Never heard of such. BTW, IMFL = Indian Made Foreign Liquor.

From another article, No cheers over beer, wine in Karnataka:

Having refrained from announcing duty hikes for liquor and related products in his budget a week ago, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa succumbed to the pressures of a sharply depleted treasury, and, on Friday said that additional excise duty (AED) would be increased on alcoholic beverages while the profit margin of liquor retailers would be decreased.

Also, the structure of AED on the IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor) would be revised. However, in the same breath, the chief minister said: “Steps will be taken so that the MRP (maximum retail price) on the IMFL won’t go up steeply.’’

These proposals have been included in the budget for 2009-10. Unlike excise duty, which is Rs 45 per litre, AED varies with respect to the price of liquor.

Presently, in the state, the retailers are entitled for a profit margin of 20%. This will come down with the new move. “We are yet to work out how much of AED to increase and how much of reduction to make in the profit margin,’’ said a senior official of the excise department.

Liquor sold above MRP - 3

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:22:43 PDT

Salient facts of Excise duty, from Central Excise -A guide to Assessees:

Central Excise duty is an indirect tax which is levied and collected on the goods/commodities manufactured in India. Generally, manufacturer of commodities is responsible to pay duty to the Government. This indirect taxation is administered through an enactment of the Central Government viz., The Central Excise Act, 1944 and other connected rules- which provide for levy, collection and connected procedures. The rates at which the excise duty is to be collected are stipulated in the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985.

Power to impose excise on alcoholic liquors, opium and narcotics is granted to States under entry No. 51 of list II of Seventh Schedule to the Constitution and it is called 'State Excise'. The Act, Rules and rates for excise on liquor are different for each State.

So, liquor Excise Duty is a state subject. Now interestingly I see in this article: Liquor, beer to cost more in Karnataka:

He imposed additional excise duties on Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), beer and other low alcohol beverages to net Rs 820 crore more revenue from the excise during the coming year. The exact amount of the additional excise duties on liquor is yet to be worked out and will be notified shortly in view of the commencement of the excise year from July 1 (2009).

Last I heard we were still in May.

Liquor sold above MRP - 2

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:21:52 PDT

Its amazing that there's hardly any information on the internet about the Excise department of Karnataka, current excise duty, increase, circulars, etc. I do find a bunch of complaints about liquor being sold above MRP. And some heartening articles.

94 liquor shops licences suspended

Liquor price goes up even before order comes into force which is interesting coz it says:

According to Shubhakar Ajiri, depot manager of KSBCL, retailers were not authorised to sell their old stocks at new rates even after the rates were increased. Unlike petroleum products, liquor should be sold at the rate at which it was procured from the KSBCL depot, he said.

Liquor sold above MRP - 1

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sat, 16 May 2009 00:21:52 PDT

A couple or so weeks ago I bought many bottles of liquor from Spencers Retail in Koramangla. All the prices charged were above MRP. There were 3 excise department notices that some brands of beer have been increased in price from such an such date (TBD). However, there was no notice for the 6 or 7 different alcohol brands I was purchasing. I called for the manager, spoke to him, explained to him the problems.

1. The purchase price of fresh stock of liquor might have gone up, but that does not mean the old stock was purchased at the higher price.
2. MRP on liquor was made mandatory from (AFAIK) Nov 06. That means the MRP is the final price on that old stock and all taxes have been paid already, and as far as MRP rules go, the price cannot be changed on old stock.
3. Excise duty in India is different from sales tax / service tax / VAT. Its a point of origin or manufacture duty, hence this duty is already charged, whether the sale is made or not. (I need to check into the legaclity of Excise duty increase after the MRP has been printed on the bottle.)
4. Notice was not published for the brands I was purchasing.

He in turn called up his manager, they brought their files for inspection and showed me that the price that they had purchased the beer brand that I'd bought was higher than the MRP printed. And the price that they were selling at was higher than their purchase price, which is of course valid. So I asked for a letter from them stating that they were selling the liquor above MRP and there was no notice. He of course refused.

I purchased all the liquor and took a bill. That makes my posistion secure. Now to find out whether I am in the right, and if so how to nail these buggers.

BJP advertising on Google mail

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:53:28 PDT

This is rich, just saw a sponsored link in my gmail exhorting the cause of the BJP and Advani. What a joke. "Determined leader" indeed. The way I see it, this is what is the BJP is determined to do if we bring it to power:

divide India into little insular potholes,
turn this secular country into a stomping ground for religious fanatics,
wave the saffron flag from every lamppost,
satify their sadistic urges under the guise of moral policing,
repeat a few more ayodhyas and godhras,
and in general timewarp us back to 15th century overnight.

"The stubborn facts of our economic crisis - the 11th hour"

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:27:03 PST

If you have a grasp of macro economics and want to read a well written, non-jargony, compelling essay about the US economic crisis (and by extension, the world), I would recommend that you give this a dekko: 11th Hour.

IF the article is correct in its facts and conclusions (and I have no reason to believe that it is not), then we are in for a deeply troubled time, and the world economic situation is not going to quite recover by 2010.

"Mumbai: we will not be divided"

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:48:59 PST

Avaaz is an international organization that acts as vox populi. More about Avaaz and their excellent campaigns and impact. They want signatories for a message calling for unity following the attacks in Mumbai. If you would like to support this cause, pls have a look below.

--------------------------

Dear friends across India and the world,

We're all feeling the shock of the awful attacks in Mumbai. All our hearts go out to the victims and their families.

The attacks were aimed at our people, our prosperity and our peace. But their top target was something else: our unity. If these attacks cause us to turn on each other in hatred and conflict, the terrorists will have won. They know that hatred and chaos feed on division. As radical extremists, their only hope of winning is by turning the rest of us against each other.

Let's deny them that victory. We're launching a message to extremists on all sides and all our political leaders, one that will soon be published in newspapers across India and Pakistan. The message is that these tactics have failed, that we're more united than ever, united in our love and support to each other, determined to work together against terror and call on our leaders to do the same. If millions of people sign it, our message will be unmistakable, click below to sign it and please forward this email widely:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/india_undivided/98.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

It's time to speak out, let's do it together.

Thanks
--------------------------------

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Sydney and Geneva. Call us at: +1 888 922 8229.

What is Purdafash upto?

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:11:51 PST

A while ago I'd posted about Purdafash, a self proclaimed website to "solve everyday problems by bringing together people, etc etc" and I'd even contributed the odd "report" to it. But 4 months later, the website still seems to be strung together with pieces of tape and thread, the interface sucks, the people behind it seem to be hibernating and there is not one example of the sour piss and vinegar that I thought the creators were bringing to such an ambitious project.

Did I hear someone asking about the reports? The less said about the reports, the better. From reports about "bird flu killings inside wipro" complete with... um... icky things like punctuation and SMS style abbreviations to a story about a local bus that stops too long in "Guwahati, Bus no. 2", to a report about why we need more temples and less pandals during pujas (Durga puja reaches scintillating heights) and even one about the old hoohoo, wearing t-shirts to school, blah blah boo in "College or Taliban?" Entertaining stuff this.

To be honest I must balance this story by pointing out that there are many valid issues pointed out on the website. But who wants another website with stories about issues? This hungry Indian wants to know what Purdafash is doing to fulfil its philosophy, other than presenting one more dreary blog platform. Perhaps what Purdafash needs to do is start a social networking platform where people can come together and discuss and debate the many aches and pains of farty old India, and promise to do something about over a cuppa chai (ramu, jaldi laana, pakoda ke saath, mat bhoolna) or a shaken martini, until next time, cheerio, sleep well and don't forget the rubber. Reminds me of a post I did a while ago "Blogging in India for socio-political causes? Ok. Good joke."...

"North Indians love to violate law. Do you agree?"

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:24:09 PST

Over at the Times of India, a newspaper I hold in the cheapest regard, the Resident Editor of the Lucknow edition wants to know if people agree with Delhi Lt Governor's statement "North Indians love to violate law."

My comment to this editor:

Are you mad, sir? Do you have the slightest bit of common sense, or do you insist on proving time and again that the Times of India is another tabloid, no better than toilet paper and more soiled if truth be told? Khanna spoke out of turn, but you, sir should know better than to misquote his statements, turn it around and present it in black and while and ask people to give their useless opinions on it. And what will you do with such opinions? Publish them with graphs and charts and show that such and such community "loves to violates laws" on the basis of people's nonsensical opinions and personal biases? And what will that prove, other than give national importance to a statement that should have merited a footnote at best? You, sir, are an imbecile for running such silly opinion polls.

Interview on another blog

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:50:27 PST

My interview published over at Visceral Observations on consumer rights and other stories in two parts: Interview with consumer rights activist: part 1 and Interview with consumer rights activist: part 2.

And a synopsis of Overcharging on MRP published at Purdafash.

Introducing a website to educate Indian drivers

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:34:09 PST

Ah, my pet peeve, the fabulous road discipline and sense, or lack thereof, of Indian drivers. Who, you ask? Hey, I'm taking about us. You and me, and our friends and family. Yes all of US.

There is no denying the fact that the people most to blame are those who drive for a living: bus, cab and auto drivers. Why do such people not follow the traffic rules? The reasons are many, and they are valid, and we are familiar with them: mostly uneducated, underpaid, overworked, never had proper training (if you call sitting beside another driver and watching him mash the gears, then being given your own killing machine to run over every pedestrian on the road as training, well, fine), trying to meet minute deadlines, and what have we. Again, don't for a moment think that I am accepting these reasons, endorsing them as valid, sympathizing with them. NO. Whatever be the reasons, it does not excuse indisciplined driving and flagrant violation of traffic norms , rules and regulations. I've written about this extensively on Traffic problems are everybody's problems.

But, whats YOUR excuse, o educated, civilized, well-paid, law-abiding (we hope) citizen?

Dr. Adhiraj Joglekar is trying to bring about a change in the driving attitudes, habits and cultures of Indian road users. Please applaud him for his effort, and give him all the support you can. NOT by just glancing at his blog, Driving India, but by actually watching the videos, forwarding the link to other people, linking from your website and by making an attempt to actually follow what he's so painstakingly put up.

PS: Yes, he's got videos for all you compulsive vidisordered (I coined this phrase myself, so if you use it, I must be paid royalty!) people, who have forgotten to read.

This is what he says:

Almost 10% of the global road traffic accidents occur in India. Much of the world wide web is full of sarcasm & mocking of the indisciplined driving on Indian roads. Unfortunately in since 60 years since independence the authorities have failed to publish a National Highway code. Licences are given to anyone who can demonstrate an ability to use the clutch-accelerator, consequently the motoer driving schools teach just that and no more. Concepts such as - blindspots, principle of MSM, the tyre & tarmac rule, 2 second gap and most improtantly giving way are not known to the average Indian driver.

The Driving India site has been created with the purpose of providing driver education and training to all Indian road users. It is by far the most comprehensive website providing training in defensive driving. Learning simple road habits can make our roads safe and also free up congestion caused by traffic chaos.

At present 17 driver education videos aimed at changing the driving culture on Indian roads are available. The video are unique in that the footage is real life action from streets of London. We have copied the Western habits: Replaced the dhoti with denim, high rise buildings for Indian cottages, burgers and coke instead of Indian breads and perhaps sugarcane juice. Surely we can copy the Western ways of travelling too.

To watch the videos, interested readers may visit: http://driving-india.blogspot.com/

The videos cover the following topics:

Video 1: Covers the concept of Blind spots
Video 2: Introduces the principle of Mirrors, Signal and Manoeuvre
Video 3: At red lights, stop behind the stop line
Video 4: At red lights there are no free left turns
Video 5: The Zebra belongs to pedestrians
Video 6: Tyres and Tarmac (rather than bumper to bumper)
Video 7: Merging with the Main road
Video 8: Leaving The Main Road
Video 9: Never Cut Corners
Video 10: Show Courtesy on roads
Video 11: 5 Rules that help deal with Roundabouts
Video 12: Speed limits, stopping distances, tailgating & 2 seconds rule
Video 13: Lane discipline and overtaking
Video 14: Low beam or high beam?
Video 15: Parallel (reverse parking) made easy
Video 16: Give the cyclist the respect of a car
Video 17: Dealing with in-car condensation

Pardafash

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:43:26 PST

I've joined Purdafash, have you? Nothing like people power, huh? So its run by a bunch of ex-IIM nd ex-IIT grads, with fire in their belly and stars in their eyes. Or so we think. After a while the fire is doused and the stars stop twinkling. (If you haven't guessed it already, I'm quite the cynic.) May the force be with this group. Or so we hope.

PS: Hullo, why are you still reading this? Get your 3-letter word over to their website, sign up, read the reports, be aware and CONTRIBUTE.

Charging over MRP at airports - 14

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:03:45 PST

I've written to many newspapers about this recent case so that they might put in a small article about it, but till now I've not heard from even a single one... am I surprised? Not really. They are too busy figuring out which esteemed leader of men/mice (take your pick) had prefrontal lobotomy, which page 3 joker had unnatural congress with mutant members of other species and who crawled into whose smelly bottom. Sigh, it must suck to be a journo in India.

Charging over MRP at airports - 13

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:06:55 PST

Read Charging over MRP at airports - 12 first.

I've been getting a lot of requests for a copy of the judgment. So here it is on Esnips.

Charging over MRP at airports - 12 (Victory!)

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:05:17 PST

Read Charging over MRP at airports - 11 first.

There was some political upheavals occurring in Karnataka and the orders were finally passed on 18th October. The orders were in my favour! Victory. Finally.

The judges have examined both sides of the issue and have held that the O.P. has indulged in "Unfair Trade Practice amounting to deficiency in service by charging the packaged items over and above the maximum retail price printed on the items." and have awarded some monetary compensation.

So, its been a good learning experience for me, a lot of hassle, a lot of time and energy spent as readers of this blog might well know, but well worth it in the end. BUT, it doesn't end here. If more and more people are not aware of this landmark judgment, its simply of no use. It doesn't change anything if people are not aware and don't fight for their rights. Last year I had promised readers of my blog that I would go after the MRP overcharging issue, and I've done that. Now its up to you to follow and use this judgment where you can.

I will try to publicize the judgment in whatever way I can. (I have relocated to Germany last month and I no longer stay in India, so my options are limited) I will put up a link to the actual judgment so that it is available to all. NakedDesserts in Bangalore is very generously helping me and if you'd like to help with this, please drop me a comment here or contact her on her page. Any help is appreciated, especially if you know media people who are willing to pick up this issue.

Continue reading Charging over MRP at airports - 13.

Charging over MRP at airports - 11

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:47:27 PST

Read Charging over MRP at airports - 10 first.

Its quite unfortunate that such an important case judgment has not been picked up by all the newspapers and made public. What are the newspapers doing, sleeping on their collective asses? Stupid b*s*a*d*. This kind of behavior makes me mad; people are running around spending their time, money, energy, fighting for something that concerns all of us and does anybody care? Does anybody KNOW of this landmark judgment. This is exactly what I was trying to do, and this person has done it, and he actually got a judgment passed for overcharging on MRP in a frigging RESTAURANT, something that I was loath to try.

PLEASE PASS ON THE WORD to all you know. I will try to put a scanned copy of this other judgment as soon as I can for all to see. Guys, please use it everywhere, and tell everyone you know about it.

Ok, back to my case:

In the next hearing on 27th Sep, I submitted the certified copy of this judgment (its called "citation"). And finally, the Judge set 11th Oct for the date for passing the Orders. Ah, finally! I've done all I can, made all the arguments, given umpteen "evidences", newspaper articles, rebuttals, versions, rejoinders and subrejoinders and what not. Spent 6 long months fighting the case. Now lets see what happens. If I lose, it will be a crying shame, and quite crazy really after the other judgment has direct relevance to my case. Lets see, keeping my fingers crossed. Tomorrow is the date.

Continue reading Charging over MRP at airports - 12.

Charging over MRP at airports - 10

noreply@blogger.com (ZeHawk) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 06:13:07 PDT

Read Charging over MRP at airports - 9 first.

On 21st Sep, I submitted a copy of the newspaper article that had details about a recent judgment delivered by the Karnataka Consumer Court against overcharging. But the judge said that he can't take cognizance of a newspaper article and I should get a copy of the actual case judgment at the next hearing. Next hearing date was set for 27th Sep, 2007.

Ok, this was interesting. How do we now go about finding where the judgment was passed? We had no details about the case, no case number, no mention about which court it was handled in. All we knew were the names of the complainant and the O.P. [Digression 1: The stupid newspaper copy writer of that article should be fired. When one writes a case that has public relevance, it makes eminent sense to provide contact details of the complainant for people to contact him regarding the case. At the very least, all details about the case should have been provided like the case number and the name of the Forum which handled the case. We had such a bloody tough time finding the details ourselves, and if we weren't so persistent we wouldn't have managed. And of course, thanks to quite a bit of luck. Anyway, read on... ;)]

There are five locations of the Courts in Bangalore: Sheshadripuram, Cunningham road and KG Road. After the hearing, we talked to various people in the Sheshadripuram court, but they could not remember such a case being handled in this court. [Digression 2: What kind of strange IT city do we live in? Its quite unbelievable that they don't have an online database system in which they can put in a few key words and locate the case details. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.]

Fine, so then we go bitching to the next court on KG Road. Spoke to a guy we had nodding acquaintance with there, but he also said that such a case was not handled by that court. Whew. Nothing else to do, but to go trudging all the way to Cunningham Rd and hope that it was handled by the Courts there. Sh**. We came out of the Court office and were waiting for the lift when lady luck decided to shine on us again. There was a lawyer who had overheard us inside and he asked us what the problem was. We explained, and he said to go back and ask them for the complaint register. That would have a list of every complaint that has been filed. Look backwards day by day, until we find the name of the complainant. Cool, so there was a way. We went back inside and explained what we needed. Lady luck now positively shone on us now. One of the guys suddenly said, no problem, they'll locate it on the database. [Digression 3: Database? Huh? Whats that? They have a bloody online D A T A B A S E? Whatdfuck, and we go donkeying all over town on a working day when I should be in office. ~#@$%^**()#@#!!! and @$#@^%**&)*()#!!!]

Voila! In a few seconds they looked up the key words and retrieved all the case details. I would have jumped off the 6th floor if it turned out that the case has been handled by the Sheshadripuram Court. Turned out that it was in the Cunningham Court. So off we went there next, armed with all the details. The case had been filed in May (after my case) and was disposed off in Aug (before mine!). Thats why I keep saying that next time I will try to get the Cunningham Forum.

There's an amazingly helpful lady in the Cunningham Court, and she got the case file out and we read the judgment. She needed an affidavit from me explaining why I needed a certified copy of this judgment, and why it had relevance for my case. It would take 2 days normally, but she promised to give it to us in a day.

I got the affidavit made from the same notary in Koramangala BDA complex, and my wife submitted it on Monday, and on Tuesday we had the certified copy with us. More power to us, yeah!

Continue reading Charging over MRP at airports - 11.