Rip Off by Indian Railways - 2nd Class A.C passengers cheated

Wife travelled by Indian Railways from Chennai to Bombay via 12164 Chennai Express on 5th July 2014 which arrived into Bombay on 6th July 2014. She was travelling on a 2 tier A.C. ticket. Right from the outset at Chennai itself there was a rip off by Indian Railways as the 2 tier A.C. compartment had only 20 seats against the normal 64 seats in any compartment. With the result that the 2 tier A.C. passengers were forced to sit in 3 tier A.C. seats. The compartment was a combination of 2 tier A.C. and 3 tier A.C. seats.

The TTE (travelling ticket examiner) did not bother to offer any explanation nor any apology for this fracas and they were told by the regular maintenance staff of the Indian railways that this is a regular practice by the Indian Railways wherein the 2 tier class A.C. passengers are forced to sit in the 3 tier A.C. On top of it the TTE also forced the passengers to pay the difference in fares owing to the recent hike in fares by the Indian Railways. Therefore the passengers were paying the normal 2 tier A.C. ticket fare and they were forced to travel in 3 tier A.C. berths.

There was no prior intimation via SMS or any other means by the IRCTC wherein the passengers should have been informed by the Indian railways of the change in their status.

If this is a regular practice going on, then surely it is a scam in the making or a full fledged scam with the connivance of the higher authorities.

People book 2 tier A.C. berths due to the relatively better comfort it provides in terms of the extra space available in the compartment, less no. of passengers using the toilets, the privacy provided by the curtains etc. When people travel for long duration such as this train which takes 24 hours to reach from Chennai to Bombay, they obviously would want to travel in better comfort for which they are paying a premium amount on the 2 tier A.C. berths.

The passengers who suffered thus should be refunded the difference in fares and compensated for the mental tension and trauma that was created due to this fracas by Indian Railways. 

Atrocious service by Spice Jet

Spice Jet service sucks!!

Recently I travelled by spice jet from madurai to bombay via flight no. SJ 275 on 2nd July 2014. 

This was a full fare one way ticket from Madurai to Bombay for which I had paid Rs.12,500/- Unfortunately I was not given a complimentary meal on the flight which took more than 3 hours.

Secondly, I had requested a window seat, at Madurai terminal when I was probably the first person to check in at the counter. Unfortunately I was given seat no. 13A which is a non reclining seat just ahead of the emergency exit door. I mean is this customer service or inhuman service. Airline customer service executives are not human at all - they probably don't like human beings which is why they give such atrocious service. Such inhuman callous service can be found only with the airlines. 

Thirdly, the check in baggage took a long time coming to the belt at Mumbai terminal. It was 30 minutes before I got my baggage. Overall experience with Spice Jet was - it Sucks!!  I am a regular traveller on Spice Jet but I guess I will have to avoid going by Spice Jet anymore. 

Mahashweta by Sudha Murthy

My first book by Sudha Murthy was Mahashwetha a very simple but beautiful book in such simple language that you actually fall in love with the writing. Sudha Murthy employs the hallmark of great Indian writers by writing in simple prose a beautiful story of a beautiful young girl from a village in Karnataka falling in love with a rich guy and then being scorned upon being visited by an illness which is seen as a curse by the poor thinking rural Indian folk. Her family also ditches her and at one point in the story, I thought Kamala Markandeya was writing the story, such was the depth of the suffering of the girl. The story moves onto Bombay and the attitudinal change amongst the people is remarkable because nobody in Bombay ever cares to question or doubt the girl for her illness. On one hand it shows Bombay as a caring city yet also as a fast moving metropolis where people hardly have time to even think and dwell upon other people's sufferings. Beautiful book by Sudha Murthy. Highly recommended  

penal charges on inoperative bank accounts

The RBI has clarified vide its circular dated 6th May, 2014 that banks are not permitted to levy penal charges for non maintenance of minimum balances in any inoperative account. 

Earlier such charges were allowed to be levied on normal savings bank accounts while no charges were to be levied on Basic Savings Bank accounts. On the normal savings bank accounts also the banks could levy penal charges only after informing the customers regarding the same at the time of opening bank accounts. 

But now the penal charges on all inoperative bank accounts has been eliminated. This is a measure towards better customer service by the banks. 

A copy of the RBI circular is to be found here i.e. http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=8867&Mode=0

Foreclosure charges/ pre-payment penalty banned

RBI has vide its circular dated 7th May 2014 immediately banned the foreclosure charges/ pre-payment penalty that was being levied by banks and financial institutions on pre-payment of loans by borrowers. This will be brought into effect immediately but will cover only loans with floating rate of interest and that too only for individual borrowers. 

Not clear why RBI has left our the fixed interest rate borrowers and commercial entities who borrow monies. 

It is a case of too little, too late from RBI. 

RBI should levy a fine of a few thousand crores on all the banks and financial institutions who have been levying these charges on borrowers for all these years and reimburse to the borrowers who have been so effected. 

The copy of the circular can be found here. 

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=8868&Mode=0

Re-schedulement of ECBs - simplification of procedure

RBI has vide its circular dated simplified its procedure for re-schedulement of External Commercial Borrowings. The re-schedulement will now be allowed subject to the following conditions:

1. Changes, if any, in all-in-cost (AIC) is only on account of the change in average maturity period (AMP) due to re-schedulement of ECB and post re-schedulement, the AIC and the AMP are in conformity with applicable guidelines. There should not be any increase in the rate of interest and no additional cost (in foreign currency / Indian Rupees) should be involved.
2. The re-schedulement is allowed only once, before the maturity of the ECB.
3. If the lender is an overseas branch of a domestic bank, the prudential norms applicable on account of re-schedulement should be complied with.
4. The changes on account of re-schedulement should be reported to DSIM through revised Form 83.
5. The ECB should be in compliance with all applicable guidelines related to eligible borrower, recognised lender, AIC, AMP, end-uses, etc.
6. The borrower should not be in the default / caution list of RBI and should not be under the investigation of Directorate of Enforcement.

The re-schedulement facility will be available both on automatic and approval route ECBs. The copy of the RBI circular can be found here.

http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=8870&Mode=0 

FDI in pharma sector

RBI has clarified vide its circular dated 21st April, 2014 that in case of FDI in the pharma sector, “non compete clause” would not be allowed in the agreements except in special circumstances and that too only with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. FDI is allowed in pharma sector upto 100% in greenfield investments under the automatic route and 10% in brownfield investments (i.e. investments in existing companies) with the government approval. 

The relevant RBI circular can be accessed here. 

http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Notification/PDFs/APDIR124NT0414.pdf