Last week I received a call at around 5.00 p.m. The caller identified himself as Rajendra Prasad, Asshishtant (Assistant) Manager from HO of the Bank and with a lot of excitement said that my account and debit card are blocked and he has called to help me reset it. I have read a lot about calls from persons from fake call centres of Banks, who try to transfer money from accounts of gullible customers. This was the first time I experienced it. When I asked him from which Bank he was calling, he replied “Ishtate Bank” (State Bank). I coincidentally have an account with that Bank and I told him I would visit my branch the next day and sort out the issue. He then warned me; “today is the cutoff date for rectifying this problem. Do you want your money or not?” sounding very unprofessional. I again repeated that I would visit the branch and sort out the issue if any and then he disconnected. My “true caller” app on the phone indicated the call as one from “Bihar”.
I shared this information with my family and friends and after a day, there was news in the newspapers about a retired banker being conned by someone from Noida to the tune of 3 Lakhs. The conversation reported was similar to the one that caller had with me. But the innocent senior citizen had revealed his debit card details with cvv number and also the OTP received on his mobile, to facilitate the person on the other end to get the amount transferred to his account, unknowingly.
Crime is as old as civilization. What is alarming is the organized crime that is happening.
Earlier this month, around 500 employees of a call centre in Thane were arrested for duping US Citizens.
While the whole world sympathizes with the victims, I feel the employees at such call centres too are victims.
I have never worked in a call centre, but I have had a very bitter experience in my career, which has made me sympathize with these employees.
A few years ago, I briefly worked for an organization, whose business though was not unethical, but the management’s approach certainly was. The organization had incurred a lot of losses and there were no funds for operations. Many payments were outstanding and the pressure was mounting from all sides. Employees were not paid regularly. Salaries were paid once in a while, just enough to sustain. Suppliers stopped supplies and all employees had to handle both their personal creditors and the respective official creditors too. The top management was not reachable. In addition to the usual work, every individual was forced to bring in new vendors viz., those in purchase department had to find new suppliers who would offer their products on credit, the finance team had to bring in more investments and credit, the HR team had to put a brave face and recruit people. I had to find new travel agents, printers, hoteliers and service providers when the existing ones refused to serve unless their old dues were paid. It was a very different game. On one hand, we had to plead with the existing creditors and reply to them convincingly and on the other had to solicit new ones to associate with us, though we knew very well that we would not be able to pay them also in future. Life was very tough and depressing. The employees after a while stopped meeting the creditors, who visited the office. Many seniors stopped using cars as creditors waited for them in the parking area too. But the creditors were intelligent too. They waited at the lift, the staircase, the emergency exit (which we used most of the times) and also in the toilets. The problem was multifold. Personal reserves of all employees vanished. Many pledged or sold their jewels and personal belongings. They borrowed at heavy interest rates. There was no sense of security. The future of the organization was very bleak. There were not many openings in the job market. Even if there was an opportunity, the organization didn’t let people to leave. They were harassed and intimidated. Almost all employees had school going children. While all this was happening, a colleague got married and his wife and in-laws felt they were being conned, as he did not receive any salary after wedding. They were very suspicious about him and there was marital discord. It was very scary. It was a nightmare and nobody could dream of a future. Employees continued to work there for three main reasons; 1) the organization owed them several months’ salaries and were waiting to get the arrears to resign. (The employer too knew this and had no intention to pay) 2) they were too scared to leave knowing the employer’s harassment tactics and 3) they did not get any opportunities. When one of the travel agent’s employees called me at an odd hour and threatened to commit suicide, if I didn’t take measures to clear her bills, I decided, I would quit irrespective of receipt of the pending salary and a new job. I thought I would start something on my own, if I didn’t get a job. I am lucky. With support from my family, I could get out and also find another job.
When I read about the news of arrest of call centre employees, I remembered my short stint in that place and could imagine the plight of all those employees who are stuck in such organizations.
Unless the Government is sincere about preventing crimes, such organizations would continue to function. The entire Government machinery should work together in eliminating them; the Labour Inspectors, the Registrar of Companies, the Revenue and Income tax departments, the Police, the Judiciary, the bankers and last but not the least, the media. They should stop turning a Nelson’s eye towards these organizations.
I shared this information with my family and friends and after a day, there was news in the newspapers about a retired banker being conned by someone from Noida to the tune of 3 Lakhs. The conversation reported was similar to the one that caller had with me. But the innocent senior citizen had revealed his debit card details with cvv number and also the OTP received on his mobile, to facilitate the person on the other end to get the amount transferred to his account, unknowingly.
Crime is as old as civilization. What is alarming is the organized crime that is happening.
Earlier this month, around 500 employees of a call centre in Thane were arrested for duping US Citizens.
While the whole world sympathizes with the victims, I feel the employees at such call centres too are victims.
I have never worked in a call centre, but I have had a very bitter experience in my career, which has made me sympathize with these employees.
A few years ago, I briefly worked for an organization, whose business though was not unethical, but the management’s approach certainly was. The organization had incurred a lot of losses and there were no funds for operations. Many payments were outstanding and the pressure was mounting from all sides. Employees were not paid regularly. Salaries were paid once in a while, just enough to sustain. Suppliers stopped supplies and all employees had to handle both their personal creditors and the respective official creditors too. The top management was not reachable. In addition to the usual work, every individual was forced to bring in new vendors viz., those in purchase department had to find new suppliers who would offer their products on credit, the finance team had to bring in more investments and credit, the HR team had to put a brave face and recruit people. I had to find new travel agents, printers, hoteliers and service providers when the existing ones refused to serve unless their old dues were paid. It was a very different game. On one hand, we had to plead with the existing creditors and reply to them convincingly and on the other had to solicit new ones to associate with us, though we knew very well that we would not be able to pay them also in future. Life was very tough and depressing. The employees after a while stopped meeting the creditors, who visited the office. Many seniors stopped using cars as creditors waited for them in the parking area too. But the creditors were intelligent too. They waited at the lift, the staircase, the emergency exit (which we used most of the times) and also in the toilets. The problem was multifold. Personal reserves of all employees vanished. Many pledged or sold their jewels and personal belongings. They borrowed at heavy interest rates. There was no sense of security. The future of the organization was very bleak. There were not many openings in the job market. Even if there was an opportunity, the organization didn’t let people to leave. They were harassed and intimidated. Almost all employees had school going children. While all this was happening, a colleague got married and his wife and in-laws felt they were being conned, as he did not receive any salary after wedding. They were very suspicious about him and there was marital discord. It was very scary. It was a nightmare and nobody could dream of a future. Employees continued to work there for three main reasons; 1) the organization owed them several months’ salaries and were waiting to get the arrears to resign. (The employer too knew this and had no intention to pay) 2) they were too scared to leave knowing the employer’s harassment tactics and 3) they did not get any opportunities. When one of the travel agent’s employees called me at an odd hour and threatened to commit suicide, if I didn’t take measures to clear her bills, I decided, I would quit irrespective of receipt of the pending salary and a new job. I thought I would start something on my own, if I didn’t get a job. I am lucky. With support from my family, I could get out and also find another job.
When I read about the news of arrest of call centre employees, I remembered my short stint in that place and could imagine the plight of all those employees who are stuck in such organizations.
Unless the Government is sincere about preventing crimes, such organizations would continue to function. The entire Government machinery should work together in eliminating them; the Labour Inspectors, the Registrar of Companies, the Revenue and Income tax departments, the Police, the Judiciary, the bankers and last but not the least, the media. They should stop turning a Nelson’s eye towards these organizations.
Well written. I an clearly relate as not once but twice I have encountered organizational deficiencies wreaking havoc on employee's lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for reading my blog and leaving a comment
DeleteVery true. Touching account
ReplyDeleteHey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.
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