Indian banks turning to fraudulent schemes to drive business?

Here is a new e-mail that my friend got after his loan rejection(he got the same offer again):

"Dear Customer,  We are immensely pleased to present to you 'your no questions asked pre-approved personal loan.' This money is available to you:  Without having to show any income proof    With the most attractive rates of interest Not just that, your loan will be processed in 3 working days so that you can start living your dreams right away.  So what are you waiting for?    Hurry! This offer is valid till March 30, 2009. Sincerely,   ********* Business Head - Personal Loans"

Isn't there something illegal about saying  'your no questions asked pre-approved personal loan' without actually meaning it.  (My friend got rejected on the basis that he was not married - so much for no questions asked).  I would now ask any foreign investor outside of India to be very careful.  When I see behavior similar to that of bait and switch scheme i get worried.  ICICI bank in my view has reduced itself to a shell game.  Be careful.

In the words of Jon Stewart - "F#@k Y@%"

Are the banks in India in serious trouble?

I asked my self the question "Are the banks in India in trouble?" Why did I ask myself the question? Well I like talking to myself when no one usually likes the subject...like finance. :) The answer to that question is interesting.  Since coming back to India again and before I head back to California again, i thought i would do a little research.  A particular bank called ICICI has been bugging a company I know to keep all their deposits in their bank and not in the other International bank that said company uses.  As I was discussing some things I discovered that someone from that company had applied for a loan and it was rejected.  Obviously ICICI has seen the payroll running since 2004 and must have thought why couldn't all that money sit here instead of just going to the said companies employees? Valid question.  Anyway I snaked a copy of the rejection letter of said employee ( I have left out the customized stuff to the standard rejection email, like name etc):

"We considered your application for personal loan, but regret to inform you that at present we would not be able to sanction a personal loan to you.   While we regret your disappointment, we assert that our credit policy is not discriminatory towards any section or individual. We are in the service industry with a clear retail perspective, and all our customers are equally important.  The pre approved loan was offered to you subject to the fulfillment of eligibility criteria of ICICI Bank, on the basis of the information provided by you in your application and our consideration of the criteria. Our Credit Department compares the data with our credit policy and arrives at a decision.  We regret the inconvenience caused to you. However, we affirm that our inability to approve your application for the personal loan is in no way a reflection of your credit-worthiness.  Thank you again for your interest in availing of credit facilities from ICICI Bank.  Looking forward to other opportunities to be of service to you in future."

So much for being pre-approved.

The said company has had consistent earnings(as far as the bank can see) and no issues for 4+ years.....sounds like ICICI is not giving out loans to employees unless you can put up equal collateral like gold etc.... Now I am not suggesting a run on the bank, but doesn't this smell like trouble...... Let me know what you think or if you have any similar stories.  I am just a little curious since everyone seems to say that Indian banks are fine....but with regular investors and retail customers screwed there has to be something wrong.

D

Censorship - Crazy India

I used to believe that India was a democracy and that its people didn't suffer the ill fated problems that the Chinese people suffered. Anyone could ask the Dalai Lama his thoughts on China, though his thoughts may be thoughtful or even hopeful, he would probably allude to the fact they drove him and his Tibetan people out and tried to banish their religion. Well India has now shown that it too can censor thought. I recently tried to look at a blog on blogspot.com and was surprised to find that it did not work. Yes I could reach it through a proxy in a different country, but not from India. They had reasons why they felt that the freedom of speech needed to be removed, but like all dictatorships they could not make an argument that made sense. I will post multiple news links that illustrate their reasons. I called my service provider at the office to see what their explanation was. I am still waiting. Literally right now. I wonder what explanation they will afford me? Probably one that has nothing to do with the freedom of speech. Gandhi would probably find all this funny. All his hard work and now it is no longer the British that control the Indian people. And yes, I feel in my right to say control. When one prevents another from doing something that is an exertion of control. The media in the US, I have felt for a long time now, has been manipulated by the politicians. In India the news media is pretty good, but that could be a thing that may be on the censorship radar. Only time will tell. Blogspot.com has a number of good technical posts, but unfortunately the government here did not see fit to allow them to continue. In the land of IT I never believed that they would ban a site that promoted it. There may be things that offend them on the site, individual blogs that are offensive, but what they have done is a blanket ban. I have found a scan on the net of the order asking for the ban which I will not post since i do not know the origin of it.

The question I have is this if the Government can make any rule that immediately affects a company, how stable is it to do business in that country? Every company in SV better think carefully. In this case Google, the company that owns blogspot, has been targeted. Who's next? I also wonder if Google is complicit in this as well. They have been in China. If the freedom of speech means nothing then why do we care so much to fight wars around the world to help people? (Don't worry i am not that naive). But ultimately people have to rise up against this kind of nonsense. Vote people out that do things that are against the people. This is of course only possible in democracies. So is India a real Democracy is the question or is it more like China?


http://www.ipatrix.com/2006/07/16/blogspot-blocked-in-india/

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/07/blogspot-blogs-banned-in-india-read.html

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/08/blog-controversy-in-india-new-details.html

Crazy Bangalore

What the?

I am not in Bangalore right now, but they have clearly proven the point I have been making....

Episode XV - Being Deluded

I got this really interesting anonymous comment the other day on my swimming post. A quick note the anonymous person: Nimge kannada chanaage braratha? Nau Bagalore alle hootithu. neevu yelle hootiha? I am sure you yourself only know the bad language within Kannada and haven't learned how to speak it properly or you were raised by wolves. It is ok. I care about Bangalore so I say the things I do. I do not live as deaf and blind person and see things for what they are. You should try to do the same and don't live as an anonymous person here in Bangalore. Try to make a difference. Unfortunately you are not a very articulate person nor do you do proper research. I footnoted my comments that you so obviously restated; I knew that the photo was not from Bangalore but as an Indian you should feel shame for that photo regardless of where it was from. I do feel that shame. Even though I am an American, by citizenship and by ideology, I feel something for this place. All my relatives think that now that I am in Bangalore that my dream of living here has come true. Unfortunately the Bangalore that I knew is gone it has become a crowded and disorganized place and the politicians have hurt Bangalore instead of help it. I used to love Bangalore in the late 70's and 80's and even the 90's on my numerous visits here. I still love this place, but I am sad and upset to see what people are doing to it and this includes probably people like you, unless you can defend this argument. The general apathy of the Kannadigas here, like yourself must be removed if this place is to grow into the city that has been promised to the rest of the world. Since we decided to bring Bangalore to the rest of the world we must now deal with the criticism and issues that come with the territory. I see from your post that you have yet to come to this realization I want Kannadigas to rise up and take charge of Karnataka and make it live up to the promise of being the technology center of India.

I am pleased that the current CM is making some good effort outside of his Father to get the Metro Rail in place. I know he like all other politicians is corrupt and will milk it for what it is. At least if he does it right and turns it into something that any city in the world would view as world class accomplishment, I would not be upset that he and his cronies would personally make fortune on it. But I feel that this will not come to pass. That is the nature of this place and I put the blame on directly the people. They need to hold the politicians accountable. I know the system here does not allow the common person to hold politicians accountable, but at least take the example of Gandhi and embarrass the politicians into doing the right thing for the people.

Well, people are deluded, they let their emotions take hold and they seem to let their apathy allow their frustration with their lives upset them. Just imagine this person was so upset over my posts that I am actually pleased. I actually got someone anonymous to think and potentially loose their indifferent ways. I have always felt that the Germans that stood by during the holocaust were as guilty as those who massacred the Jewish population. Even if this person posts here again I will be very pleased, just do it as an un-anonymous person, have facts because that is the only way I can learn something new and try to tell all of your friends that you really are a person that cares about Bangalore and will not spit on the road throw garbage out your window etc. Promise Bangalore that will you will respect Bangalore and get out of this indifferent and Apathetic deluded existence and will awaken. I am not asking you to do what they did in the movie Rang de Basanti. In fact I felt that that the movie gave the wrong message. The movie emphasized the emotional aspects of hate. Violence never has a place. Trust me, years of martial arts taught me this. Think Gandhi.

I hope that you learn from this exercise and try to make a difference in the lives of the people around you when you travel by bike or by car or through your journey through life.

Episode XIV - Lose some Lose some

I am not sure if anyone has been following the events of the government here in Karnataka or for that matter India, but the recent events have made me remember a statement that a friend and I used to make "lose some lose some." It signified a more realistic view of things and it was far truer than "win some lose some." In the case of the people of Karnataka the title state applies.

Not only should every person in Karnataka feel ashamed they should personally take it as an insult to their intelligence. Ok I am not one to say that people should be full of pride, but in the case of the collective yes.....

When the current government fell due to a lack of confidence it was cause the MLA's voted that way. Remember it had nothing to do with the people. It was nothing like the voters of California recalling the governor by a popular vote. No No No. Here the people have nothing to do with it. It's what I like to call a Fiefdom Dictatorship via democracy by proxy. That's India. Like it or not the people here have no real vote, not in what matters anyway. You know, stuff like what affects the day to day lives of the citizens.

Lose Some Lose Some.

Episode XIII - You have no Vote

Let me start off by saying that I hope that the current Chief Minister gets tossed out of office quickly. What I am talking about is the fact that the people do not decide who runs the state. Since yesterday (Wednesday the 18th of January) the majority appears to have gone to a coalition between the breakaway faction of the JD(S) party and the BJP. I feel that it pretty funny. A couple of years ago the governor of California was booted, but not by the Legislators, but by the people through a recall vote. Here in Karnataka and the rest of India the people do not have any power, voice or any other influence over the political landscape. If you read my previous posts you may have understood that someone felt that the people were not capable of making those kind of decisions. This type of government is not a true democracy. There is a certain degree of freedom in India that is similar to the US, but it falls short in the political process. Sure India is far better that other countries, but the attitude of the people should be that India could be better. I think that people are starting to wake up.

Vote! Well do, but understand that it has no real meaning here. Actually, I think people here already know this. At least those in the voting public who are educated will know this. How can anyone make a change to the screwed up system that exists today? I have no Idea yet. Let's just hope that with the current system being so screwed up and politicians fearing there removal based on shifting majorities that they will change the election process.

Anyway it appears that a bunch of people will get there collective butt's kicked out of office soon....Yippie!

Quick Update - If there is a new CM, the guy that will be CM is supposed to be the biggest crook and thug around. This guy was in charge of the public works and we all know the corruption and the mess he made....so Really God Pleeeese help Bangalore!