Thieves of The Private Sector

Dear Fellow Indians,
Produced below, verbatim is the text of an SMS that I keep getting from Airtel on my mobile phone. "Banaye Naye Dost Aur Uthaiye Chatting Ka Asli Mazaa Dial...., Charges Rs.3/min". Of late these messages are slightly toned down. Earlier they used to be much more explicit. Consider this one : "Live Chatting Karne Ka Muka, Bina Apna Mobile Number Bataye, Dial.....(F-22), ..........(F-24),.........(F-26), Charges, Rs.3/min." (I have purposely left out the numbers sent by Airtel since I do not want any reader of my blog to call up any such number). The import of these messages are lost to none. Both these messages are nothing but invitations to the subscriber to call one of these numbers and have steamy phone-sex with the babe on the other side of the line. And who knows, whether this racket is limited to phone sex or the Airtel guys have gone deeper and are also providing call-girls!!! These messages have not stopped even after I have sent a written camplaint/request to the Airtel authorities to stop sending such messages on my phone. So far as I am aware, such messages are also in violation of the recent judgement of the honorable Supreme Court of India which says that no unsolicited messages can be sent by any company on any subscribers mobile phone. And what adds insult to injury is the fact that the Airtel authorities term such objectionable messages as a 'value added serivce' and also deduct a monthly fee for the same. The also send you messages telling that your 'service' has been successfully renewed for a fee. But they never specify in their messages how to unsubscribe to this 'service'. So in essance, they are carrying out a business of phone-prostitution-promotion via SMS and that too at the cost of the hapless customer. This, of course is one example. I am sure that almost all of us have suffered and felt harrased when our mobile/internet plans provided by the private players have suddenly been 'upgraded' without our express consent and the monthly bills accordingly jacked up! Untold 'deductions' and unexplained 'charges' which keep appearing and disappearing from our monthly connection bills are another way these private operators shortchange the consumer. The average customer, already exhausted by the day-to-day demands on his time and energy usually has no will or the time to keep an account of such fradulent deductions, charges and 'value addes services' and thus, this racket of the private mobile/internet service providers goes on.
And then, it is not as if this tendency to shortchange-indeed loot-the customer is limited to the bigwigs in the private sector. Event the smaller players are jostling find their space in the unsuspecting consumers pocket. Take for instance the example of a company that sells steamed corn in Sahara Ganj, Lucknow, under the brand name of ' Hot and Juicy' . Once again, I am sure that all of us must have enjoyed this form of our ubiquitous "Bhutta" at the astronomical price of Rs.35/- for a cup. Well, leaving the price- issue aside, let me tell you something about the quantitiy- issue. Have you ever, by any chance, noticed the photograph of the typical cup of steamed corn that is displayed on 'Hot and Juicy' counters? In case you have, then you will no doubt recall that it is filled to the brim in the photograph. But what do they give you in exchage for your 35 rupees? A cup which is left slightly empty at the brim. In case you are a keen observer, you must also have noticed how they fill the cup. First they tilt the cup to one side and gently pour the corn into it so that the grains do not settle down and become compacted. Essentially, it is technique expertly developed by this particular firm to ensure that the maximum amount of air and the minimum amount of corn go into every cup sold to the customer. I am also sure that in case you have noticed either or both the phenomenon I have detailed above, you would have felt just as irritated and cheated as I felt. But then, adopting the usual "jaane do kuchch nahi badlega, ladne se koi fayda nahi" mentality of the typical Indian customer, you must have paid Rs.35/- of your hard-earned money for a cup of corn that contains much less than the advertised amount and moved on. Now, now, before you proclaim me a cynic, just see what it means for the company. Suppose they have two stalls in a mall and each stall sells 500 cups/day on an average. That comes to 1000 cups/day for both the stalls. Now, Suppose they 'save' one tablespoonfull of corn on each cup that they sell.That means that for roughly every ten cups sold , they 'save' (read 'steal') one full cup from the consumer. That means that on a sale of every 1000 cups, the company steals 100 cups from the customers. Translated into money terms it is theft of Rs.3500/- per day, Per mall!! Apply this figure to their All-India operations and this figure of daylight theft would jump to literally lakhs of rupees per day and crores of rupees per month!!! And you, are the unsuspecting (at best) or reluctant(at worst) victim of this theft of crores!!
These are just two examples I have discussed and illustrated. The trend of shortchanging/looting the customer is prevalant all over the private sector. It is only competition and the pressure of the market which forces them to indulge in this theft covertly and say 'sorry' when you catch them with their hands in your pocket. If you still don't beleive me, allow just one company-any company- to become a monopoly. I guarantee that it will run away with your house and not blink an eyelid.