Rajesh Kothari's Diary

Making of a Will

2011-10-15T15:12:00.002+05:30

Recently I attended a seminar hosted by Moneylife Foundation, delivered by Adv Dr S D Israni. Dr Israni clarified during Q&A that Will/Personal Law etc are not his area of expertise but as a student of law he has interest in it; and would like to share his views with the audience. Seminar was oversubscribed and many were asked to join the next seminar. Unfortunately many did not turn-up. It happens. That's why overbooking is a standard practice in some service industries.

Any way, coming back to the subject of will, there is already an article on the seminar at this site.

I'll just add few points based on notes that I took during the seminar, mainly to record the important points for future use.

First, writing a will is neither complicated nor expensive. In fact, it could be done any time, any where on a simple plain piece of paper! What one requires is that, after it is written down - in language of your choice, when you put your signature - there should be two witnesses.

Practically, any adult can be a witness. But, if the property value is more; or if there is a likelihood of a dispute among beneficiaries then it is preferable that one of the witness is a Doctor and other a Lawyer.

Do I have to reveal to the witness about content of the will?
You need not tell or show the witnesses what you have written in the will. They are merely a witness to your signing the will by putting down their name, address and signature. Of course, if you like, you may show the will to them; and give them a copy if you wish.

Will is not required to be registered. But, if it is registered with Sub-registrar of Properties (same department that registered property deeds / agreement of sale etc.) it helps as an independent verification / evidence of the will - should a dispute arise later on. There is no stamp duty on will. But registration fees will have to be paid.

Of course, one can write number of wills during his life time, registered or not. Only last will (registered or not) is taken in the account, while considering the claim by the beneficiaries. Will can be revoked any time without any formality by just writing a fresh will on a piece of paper with two witnesses.

Person making a will is called Testator in legal terms. When a will is made, legal heirs can not have any claim over the Testator's property; except what is given to them in the will.

What if no will is left by the deceased?
In legal terms, this situation is called by a term - person died Intestate. In such a case, some times, succession certificate is required to be got from the High Court or District Court (for interior areas of a State), should a dispute arise over a property.

If a person has died Intestate then legal heirs have rights to the properly. Class-1 heirs are immediate relatives like Wife, Children and Mother. Class-2 relatives are Father, Brother etc. How much each can claim is decided by the Personal Law of the Religion of the deceased. So, religion plays an important part in deciding who will get what, when a person dies without a will. This being a very involved subject, it is best to take lawyer's advice on matters related to this aspect.

What is a will?
Will is a legal declaration of intention of the testator with respect to his property (including rights), which he desires to be carried into effect after his death.

Will is possibly the only legal document that has no legal validity till the person who has written it, is alive. Strange but true!

How to write a will?
Dr Israni said that J F Kennedy's will is famous for its simplicity and clarity. [I've seen J F Kennedy Jr's will. It's just two page long and comprehensive. It's only when reads a real will that we realise that it is not easy to write a simple will!]

Will should be written in any language, preferably in mother tongue - making it less vulnerable to mistakes of interpretation. Any way, it should be simple and clear i.e., there should not be any ambiguity with respect to its interpretation.

There is no prescribed format i.e., it could be in any format. It can be hand-written in a legible hand-writing. If it is typed and testator is unlettered then it should say 'text of the will was explained to me'. One can put thumb impression also.

Preferably, it should give list of each tangible and intangible property. It should state clearly the distribution i.e., who will get what. If one wants to divide the property among few then clear percentage should be mentioned in the will. Of course, total should be 100% or else there will be a dispute for sure.

It could mention how the property could be disposed off, if it is divided among two or more people.

Testator can give his property and rights to any one. It's not necessary to distribute it to his legal heirs. He can give it to any one including a trust. In fact, he can create a trust and then make a will.

The distribution can be conditional also. For example, When so and so attains an age of 25, he would get so and so amount etc. Logic of the same should be unambiguous. [There are many complications here when one actually sits down to write his will. This is because the will should provide for all possibilities. For example, say you have mentioned that after your death all properties should go to your wife. But what happens if she dies before you? Then you will have to make another will. But if both dies together, then what happens? Things become complicated when you have a son, two brothers, father etc. It's not easy. Just read J F Kennedy Jr's will - which is supposed to very simple.]

It is preferable:

if will is written on a green ledger paper because it has more life than ordinary white paper
if testator mentions his religion in the will
if witness is younger than the testator
if process of signing and attestation by witness is recorded on video

In case a will is written again, it should say clearly that it supersedes all previous wills, particularly those dated so and so.

Testator can appoint Executor of the will, if he so wishes. Executor can also be one of the beneficiary of the will. Executor is like a trustee, who ensures the distribution of property as written in the will. Executor can appoint/hire people to look after property and recover expense for the same from the property.

For making small changes will could have a section called 'codicil'. Codicil is an addendum that allows changes/addition of small nature to the will. It helps by avoiding the process of making a fresh will.

Some times Executor refuse to carry out his duties. In that case, matter goes to the court and court appoints an Administrator. Administrator will see the distribution of the property as per the will.

In case, a dispute arises then court issues a certified copy of the known last will called Probate. Also, court may appoint an administrator.

Jurisdiction
In case of dispute of an immovable property location of property decides the jurisdiction. And, in case of moveable property jurisdiction is decided by the location of the person in possession of the moveable property.

Transmission / Nomination
It would be prudent to appoint nominee for each property in such a way that nominee is same as beneficiary of that property as per your will (also called Legatee). In case, one decides to change the will then all such nominations also needs to be changed.

In case, one is sure of not changing his will then testator can include beneficiary's name as joint holder of the property. But, matter becomes complicated for adding / removing joint holders from legal point of view because both addition and removal of name requires joint holder's signature. And also transfer fees or stamp duty may become payable, if name is added later on.

With possible exception of shares, all nominees are legally speaking only a trustee i.e., upon death, they get the property in their name but they are supposed to transfer it to the beneficiary of the will. In 2010, Justice Dalvi of Bombay High Court has given a contrary view in case of shares claimed by a nominee.

Is Income Tax payable by the beneficiary upon receipt of property?
No. [This aspect needs to be checked by a Chartered Accountant.]

------------------------------oOo------------------------------

The Will of John F. Kennedy, Jr.

I, JOHN F. KENNEDY, JR., of New York, New York, make this my last will, hereby revoking all earlier wills and codicils. I do not by this will exercise any power of appointment.

FIRST: I give all my tangible property (as distinguished from money, securities and the like), wherever located, other than my scrimshaw set previously owned by my father, to my wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, if she is living on the thirtieth day after my death, or if not, by right of representation to my then living issue, or if none, by right of representation to the then living issue of my sister, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, or if none, to my said sister, Caroline, if she is then living. If I am survived by issue, I leave this scrimshaw set to said wife, Carolyn, if she is then living, or if not, by right of representation, to my then living issue. If I am not survived by issue, I give said scrimshaw set to my nephew John B.K. Schlossberg, if he is then living, or if not, by right of representation to the then living issue of my said sister, Caroline, or if none, to my said sister Caroline, if she is then living. I hope that whoever receives my tangible personal property will dispose of certain items of it in accordance with my wishes, however made unknown, but I impose no trust, condition or enforceable obligation of any kind in this regard.

SECOND: I give and devise all my interest in my cooperative apartment located at 20-26 Moore Street, Apartment 9E, in said New York, including all my shares therein and any proprietary leases with respect thereto, to my said wife, Carolyn, if she is living on the thirtieth day after my death.

THIRD: If no issue of mine survive me, I give and devise all my interests in real estate, wherever located, that I own as tenants in common with my said sister, Caroline, or as tenants in common with any of her issue, by right of representation to Caroline's issue who are living on the thirtieth day after my death, or if none, to my said sister Caroline, if she is then living. References in this Article THIRD to "real estate" include shares in cooperative apartments and proprietary leases with respect thereto.

FOURTH: I give and devise the residue of all the property, of whatever kind and wherever located, that I own at my death to the then trustees of the John F. Kennedy Jr. 1983 Trust established October 13, 1983 by me, as Donor, of which John T. Fallon, of Weston, Massachusetts, and I are currently the trustees (the "1983 Trust"), to be added to the principal of the 1983 Trust and administered in accordance with the provisions thereof, as amended by a First Amendment dated April 9, 1987 and by a Second Amendment and Complete Restatement dated earlier this day, and as from time to hereafter further amended whether before or after my death. I have provided in the 1983 Trust for my children and more remote issue and for the method of paying all federal and state taxes in the nature of estate, inheritance, succession and like taxes occasioned by my death.

FIFTH: I appoint my wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, as guardian of each child of our marriage during minority. No guardian appointed in this will or a codicil need furnish any surety on any official bond.

SIXTH: I name my cousin Anthony Stanislaus Radziwill as my executor; and if for any reason, he fails to qualify or ceases to serve in that capacity, I name my cousin Timothy P. Shriver as my executor in his place. References in this will or a codicil to my "executor" mean the one or more executors (or administrators with this will annexed) for the time being in office. No executor or a codicil need furnish any surety on any official bond. In any proceeding for the allowance of an account of my executor, I request the Court to dispense with the appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent any person or interest. I direct that in any proceeding relating to my estate, service of process upon any person under a disability shall not made when another person not under a disability is a party to the proceeding and has the same interest as the person under the disability.

SEVENTH: In addition to other powers, my executor shall have power from time to time at discretion and without license of court: To retain, and to invest and reinvest in, any kind or amount of property; to vote and exercise other rights of security holders; to make such elections for federal and state estate, gift, income and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes as my executor may deem advisable; to compromise or admit to arbitration any matters in dispute; to borrow money, and to sell, mortgage, pledge, exchange, lease and contract with respect to any real or personal property, all without notice to any beneficiary and in such manner, for such consideration and on such terms as to credit or otherwise as my executor may deem advisable, whether or not the effect thereof extends beyond the period settling my estate; and in distributing my estate, to allot property, whether real or personal, at then current values, in lieu of cash.
------------------------oOo-----------------------

The delay is on account of computer system blocking the refund - reply to RTI query for Income Tax Refund

2011-07-07T18:22:00.027+05:30

My Income tax refund saga has spilled over to other posts in recent past. So, here I would like to share certain points to be kept in mind while making a RTI (Right to Information) application.

Brief History
For Assessment Year 2006-07 and 2007-08 my case was taken up for scrutiny and Assessing Officer passed orders u/s 143(3) for refund of Income tax on 18-11-2008 and 31-8-2009 respectively. Since I did not receive the refund within the prescribed limit of 1 month from the date of order, I wrote number of letters to the ITO. I did not get a single reply. Hence I visited them personally 3 to 4 times but every time they sent me back with mis-leading replies e.g., system is blocked because you have one more PAN number (this PAN was already cancelled by ITax long back), we will have to prepare the cheque manually and so on.

RTI Application
I read in one news paper that income tax refund is covered under RTI Act. So, I said - let's try this out. And with about 3 months of effort I got the Refund with Interest. Cost incurred - Rs.24/-!! In the process there were many things I learnt. Here is the list:

1. Making RTI query to a Central Government is different from State Government. For Central Government one has to get either Demand draft, Pay Order or Indian Postal Order called IPO (available from Post offices) of Rs.10/-. But, to my surprise I had to visit at least 5 post offices before I could get it. Most of post offices are out of stock and have no information as to when they will get. One hint, ask for Rs.5/-, Rs.20/- IPO. One can attach Rs.20/- IPO instead of Rs.10/-; or 2 x Rs.5/- IPO. You will have to pay Rs.2/- commission on Rs.10/- IPO - although printed value of commission on IPO is Rs.1/-. That's massive 20% commission! May be RTI is required to un-earth a scam in to commission also!!

Format for application is not fixed but it should cover information like Name of applicant, subject matter of information, period for which information is required, and description of information required. While submitting the RTI one is required to mention name of payee. Finding this information is a big problem. For Income tax, I learnt that it is "Accounts Officer, Income Tax Dept, Govt of India".

For RTI query to State Government one has make payment by purchasing Non-judicial stamps of Rs.10/- and affix on the RTI application. Also, format for each State government dept is different and available from dept or web site. Earlier, post offices were accepting cash payments but it has stopped now.

2. Before you make an application, you will have to find out who is Public Information Officer (PIO) of the department. Generally this information should be readily available; and most government web sites claims to give this information. But, most of the time you will find that either link is not working or this information is just not given anywhere or some similar problem.

For Income tax refund, after great deal of effort, I found out that my Assessing Officer (AO) - who is supposed to assess my Income tax Return is the designated Public Information Officer. So, see the fun; the person against whom I have a complaint is the person who is going to give the answer! Hence RTI application for Income tax refund should be addressed to PIO, Assessing Officer (ITO/AC), Income Tax Ward / Circle No. ITO-xx(x)-x, his address with PIN code.

3. One can submit the RTI application at Post offices i.e., post office will accept your RTI application and forward it to the addressed PIO i.e., government officer free of cost. So, submission of RTI application as Post office saves us cost of sending application by hand delivery / Registered AD / Speed Post. List of Post offices accepting RTI application is put on India Post web site (http://www.indiapost.gov.in/). But I found information is not updated for a long time i.e., many more post offices accept RTI applications that list given there. Note that one should not send RTI application through courier. Also, on-line application for RTI is not accepted, so far.

4. Do not write questions against 'description of information required'. Instead, write that my questions are given in annexure-1. In annexure-1 write questions in a tabular form - each question serially numbered. Do not ask more than one question against each serial number.

5. In RTI query, remember that one ask for "information" only i.e., one can not ask "why" certain thing was not done. For example, one can not say 'Why no action is taken against Assessment Officer?' Instead one can ask 'Give details of reasons recorded for not taking action against the assessment officer for dereliction of duty'.

6. It is extremely important to draft the application properly. If not done with care, government departments have mastered the art of giving evasive replies. So, it is important that a knowledgeable person helps you to draft the text of the application. In fact, from my experience I can say that one requires a lawyer to draft it.

Also, remember that for sensitive information like Income tax refund, one has to make RTI application himself only. If not done information would be denied. Also, one has make query in individual capacity clearly stating that "I - , citizen of India, hereby apply for following information under the RTI Act 2005." One can not make application on behalf of firm, organization etc.

For my RTI application, I had gathered few drafts available on various sites for Income tax refund. After combining few of them I made an initial draft. I showed it to a group of helping people from "Tarun Mitra Mandal". They have a set of volunteers in various parts of Mumbai city, who give free advice on one particular day of the week, generally in the evenings/night time. More information about them can be found at http://www.thetmm.org/. Don't be fooled by their simple website. They are very knowledgeable and truly helpful people giving a very useful service free of charge.

In stead of going in to lot of details, in summary, I had to make 2 RTI applications. First got me the payment of refund without any interest. Second one got me the interest for late payment at 6% pa, calculated from 1st April of relevant Assessment year. For example, if AY is 2006-07 and interest becomes due from 1-4-2006.

Following table has text of my queries along with replies I received from the Income-Tax department and last column says what I've learnt:

First RTI Application
Info. Asked by RTI application Dated 15-3-2011	Reply from ITax dated 15-4-2011	Lesson learnt (How to anticipate evasive answers and framing clever questions)
1. In how many days is the Income Tax Department supposed to refund the tax amount assessed in the Assessment Order u/s 143(3); and if refund is not given within the timeframe; give details of concerned person (name, address and contact no) and what actions are taken against the concerned person?	Within one month from the date of order of assessment u/s 143(3)	Since questions are not separately numbered, answer is given only to first part. So, each question should be separately numbered. Government officials are good at giving incomplete / partial answers.
2. Please give status and progress report on complaint letters written on 31-3-2010, 20-5-2010, 21-9-2010 and 25-11-2010.	Your complaint letters have been processed and your refund for AY 2006-07 and AY 2007-08 have been issued by this office through refund cheque dt. 1-4-2011	Answer given is as of 15-4-2011; and not as of 15-3-2011 i.e., when question was asked. So, we should ask “Please give status and progress report as on RTI query date (15-3-2011) on complaint…” Worst part is one cheque bounced back with reason "Reason(70): advice not received" I had to write a letter to the AO with copy of bounced cheque and cheque return advice and wait for 1 week before I got the payment from the bank.
3. If refund payment is made to the assessee, please give details of the same viz., Name, designation, address and contact phone no. of the concerned officer of Income tax department and Agent/Refund Banker, name and address of assessee where cheque was sent, mode of dispatch viz., ordinary post /speed-post/registered post/ECS etc; date of dispatch, proof of dispatch, details of cheque/ECS viz., name of the bank, branch, date of cheque/ECS and amount, date of delivery, date of encashment of cheque/ECS, if cheque is returned un-delivered – reason for non-delivery.	Refund for A.Y. 2005-06 & 2007-08 has been sent by refund banker cheque, Advice No.ITC/A7 812528 & 812529 dated 01/04/2011. The same is sent by Registered speed post on 05/04/2011 on the address provided by you i.e., xxx, Mumbai-xx. Name: XY Designation: ITO MM(N)-P Office address: xxx,xx Tele:xxx	Here, although Refund was not given on date of RTI application; AO made the Refund cheques without Interest u/s 244A and sent out. Also he did not send advice No.ITC/A7 along with the 2 cheques. And he cleverly replies that Refund has been sent. So, to not to allow this type of reply, one should mention clearly “Provide status of Refund as on date of RTI query and not as on date of your reply” If question 2 was properly framed answer to this question would have been negative.
4. In case of non-delivery of refund cheque for any reason; what steps are taken by Income tax department and Agent/Refund banker to inform the assessee about the non-delivery of refund cheque? In case, no action is taken – please provide the name, address and phone number of person from whom assessee can get the refund cheque along with procedure for claiming such refund cheques and in what time period he is supposed to get the refund cheque.	N.A.	No comment.
5. In case, no refund payment is made to the assessee please give following details: a. Name, Designation, Office Address, Office Telephone Number, Mobile Numbers (in case mobile provided and paid for by the office) of the officer of the Income Tax department who is responsible for the inordinate delay of Income tax refund, action taken for dereliction of duties and if no action is initiated, reasons thereof be made known to me. b. Give details of number of days in which this officer is supposed to issue the refund payment to the assessee as per rules/procedures of Income tax department c. Please inform me the reasons for non-payment of refund payment under Sec 4(1)(d) of the RTI Act, since I am an “affected” person. d. By which date I should expect to get the refund payment along with interest due to me. e. Give detailed calculation of interest mentioning no of days and interest rate, which assessee is entitled to receive for the late payment of refund amount.	[No reply. In fact, reply for 6 is given at 5]	Here question is not answered at all. I wish question was written as given below: “In case, Income tax refund is not done to the assessee on or before date of RTI query (15-3-2011) please give following details:..” Any way, this seems to be a standard technique to avoid giving reply to uncomfortable questions. Go for appeal. In appeal, demand Penalty for not giving answer e.g., “I demand imposition of Penalty under Section 20 of the RTI Act, at the rate of Rs. 250.00 for every day of delay (subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000.00) from the date the information was due (15-4-2011) till the date the information is actually given to me.”
6. The Name, Office Address, Office telephone number and Mobile Number of the Higher Officer to whom a First appeal will lie under Sec 19(1) of the RTI act 2005	Name: GH Designation: Joint Commissioner of Income Tax Rg M (N) Office Address:xx,x Tele: xx	No comment

Second RTI Application
Details of Further Information required through RTI application dated 18-5-2011	Reply from Income Tax Dept dated 21-6-2011		Lesson learnt (How to anticipate evasive answers and framing clever questions)
1. If refund is given after one month of assessment u/s 143(3) then as per Income tax act (a) give details of rate of interest payable for the late payment (b) from which date to which date interest becomes payable to the assessee. (c) Reasons recorded for not paying interest along with the income tax refund amount. (d) give detailed calculation of Interest payable to assessee particularly mentioning rate of interest, period for which interest is paid (start date and end date) and number of days for which interest is payable for AY 2006-7 and 2007-08.	(a) Rate of Interest is 0.5% (b) From 1^st April of the relevant A.Y. to the date of refund order (c) The delay is on account of computer system blocking the refund (d) As per ITNS 150 enclosed herewith.		(a) 0.5% is per month and not per annum. Confusing. Isn't it? (b) We should try to get exact date e.g., 1-4-2006/2007 to 1-6-2011 (c) Technically this is a wrong answer. We should expect this answer and cleverly frame question e.g., “Please note evasive reply like ‘delay is on account of computer system ...’ etc. are not acceptable.” (d) ITNS 150 does not mention rate of interest, period, no. of days (we should write months).
2. (a) Reasons recorded for undue delay in taking action on complaint letters. (b) Name and designation of officers responsible for the same. (c) Whether any disciplinary action taken the responsible officers or not. If not, reasons recorded for the same. (d) Name and designation of senior officers authorized to take action against the responsible officers for delay.	(a) The delay is on account of computer system blocking the refund. (b) Not applicable (c) Not applicable (d) The Jt. Commissioner of Income Tax-Rg.NN(M) Mumbai		(a) Absolutely wrong answer. (b) wrong answer (c) wrong answer (d) No comment One should appeal against this answer. Or expect this answer & cleverly frame question (read above remark)
3. Give details of total number of pending income-tax refunds overdue by 1 month from your office	[No reply. In fact, reply for 4 is given at 3 and so on. So, last reply is for 5]		In appeal, demand Penalty for not giving information.
4. Give details of number of orders passed but refunds still lying in custody of your office and dispatch clerk and Refund Banker/agency for more than 1 month	No Day to day progress report maintained since refund order are issued on computer through Refund Banker. SBI.		Evasive answer. Go for appeal for not giving correct answer.
5. Whether any disciplinary action is taken against the responsible income tax officer, dispatch clerk and Refund Banker/agency for not refunding the amount in time. If no action is taken reasons recorded for the same.	Not applicable.		Why not applicable? Wrong answer. Go in appeal.
6. Give name and designation of senior officer to look after and supervise the proper and timely dispatch of refund orders along with interest to the assessee.	The Incumbent Assessing Officer Shri XY, ITO-NN(M)-P. Mumbai. Under the supervision of Shri PQ, Jt. CIT-Rg.NN(M). Mumbai.		No comment.

7. One may ask me why I did not go for Appeal rather than choosing to make second RTI application, asking for 'further information'. In fact, I had prepared the Appeal but on careful thinking and advice from a welwisher, I decided against it. Main reason behind this decision was that purpose of my RTI application was not to expose inefficiency but to get result. As long as I got the result that I wanted, I could not ask for more.

Let me have your feedback.

TringMe software (Voice over Inernet) for Blackberry

2011-06-13T14:35:00.003+05:30

When i got hooked to Blackberry, I looked for skype or an application similar to skype, which will allow me to make internet calls using Blackberry. Of course, there were some claims but none of them were found working. And, then I learnt that that technically there is some issue because of which it is not possible to write such application on Blackberry. Unless, of course, in newer OS such technical limitation was overcome.

This was bit difficult to digest because I had seen skype working flawlessly on recent phenomenon called iPhone. Any way, tech world being what it is, we can't do much.

So, it was a surprise when I learnt that TringMe, a India based start-up had developed an application that would enable a Blackberry handset with any BB OS version to make IP calls over Wifi and 3G. When I read more, it even claimed that it would even work for those data plans where only e-mails and IM were allowed i.e., GPRS/browser support was missing. I said to my self, that's like a real Indian genius! Let me try.

Immediately I set down to download tringme application for my blackberry handset. I have basic BIS plan with e-mail and IM only i.e, no GPRS/Browser. After installation, it showed me my virtual phone number and so on. Icon got setup on the screen and I was anxious to get started with few free phone calls. Unfortunately my BB handset (8310) does not support Wifi and 3G. When I had got it, I thought wifi is not going to be useful, so I had opted for a handset with GPS! But technology changes fast, and in no time Wifi became ubiquitous.

So, I thought TringMe is a god-sent application that will allow me to make IP calls. But, before I started, I thought let me check if everything else is working alright. And to my surprise, I found that my Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger and Hotmail Messenger were not able to connect to the server. Upon re-try I saw message on all of them that 'you have not subscribed to this service' or 'service book entries are missing'. I don't remember exact message.

So, after some thought I realised that it could be TringMe. So, I deleted TringMe from the phone. And, all 3 IMs started working. That's it. I'll not try TringMe once again, unless website specifically says that it does not hamper working of IMs. Also, I noticed that site assumes that everyone knows how to download and install BB application, even when the user is having basic BB plan with e-mail and IM support!

Problems with MTNL's Triband Internet Connection

2011-06-11T13:25:00.000+05:30

About 15 days back, we experienced totally black-out for almost 3 days with MTNL's internet connection. Upon inquiry we found that their Fibre Channel cable was damaged by a utility company while doing some road repair work. Ok. We understand this happens sometimes.

But, for past 8 to 10 days, kind of problems we have been facing with MTNL's triband is making us crazy. Almost every day some time or other, suddenly for 4 to 6 hours Internet connection starts behaving bad. For some days it has been 'web page cannot be displayed'. Today it is able to load only certain sites e.g., google, google mail, yahoo mail, mtnl, iit bombay, stock holding corporation, blogger etc. It's not able to open sites like irctc, saraswat bank, most links on google search, indian passport, kingfisher club etc.

Talked to various people at MTNL including their server room people. They are clueless. And, to make it worse, today is saturday. So, they will take it up on Monday! Same thing had happened during Fibre Cable damage problem.

I remember, I had faced a wierd problem about 1 year back. I was not able to visit IRCTC website for railway booking. I called up MTNL's help line and after much argument they confirmed that there was an issue with their DNS server; and they are working on it. Since I was in hurry I used Cleartrip's railway booking (which had just started, and I found it to be much better than IRCTC). Any way, after that it's more or less working well.

It should be mentioned here that apart from this few incidents, MTNL's triband internet has been extremely good and reliable.

Convocation speech by actor Balraj Sahni in 1972 at Jawaharlal Nehru University

2011-05-02T14:13:00.003+05:30

Yesterday my wife pointed out to me an excellent article in Gujarati News Paper - Janmabhoomi Pravasi - about a convocation speech given by film actor Balraj Sahni in 1972. I wondered, what would an actor - however great his acting would have been - would say which would help any one to learn something new or encourage new graduates to go out and conquer the world. I remembered great convocation speech by Subrato Bagchi - 'Go kiss the world' and few more.

It was only after I read the condensed speech and supporting material that I realised how great a person had been Balraj Sahni - ordinarily known as a good film actor. I told my wife that his speech reminds me of speeches by past President, Shri Abdul Kalam. Also, I was reminded of great articles written by Salim Khan, an actor and father of famous hero Salman Khan from Bollywood.

Balraj Sahni was a post graduate in English literature and taught English and Hindi at Shantiniketan and served as a radio announcer in BBC at London before he forayed in to acting.

The speech is rather long and is reproduced below. For impatient readers, I would like to high light few points that touched my heart:

1. He spoke from his heart and that too only about those things that he had thought and experienced himself.

2. Excessively busy people tend to get cut off from all the currents of life and not only does he sacrifice the pleasures of normal family life, but he also has to ignore his intellectual and spiritual needs. (Most busy and successful people do not realise this and most part of their life passes away like a flash of light and suddenly they find themselves at the end of road, veiling that they did not look after their own intellectual and spiritual needs. Too sad.)

3. Although days are slavery have been over more than half an century ago, Indian mind is still enslaved. It has to break free and learn to think independently. (Particularly I feel very sad when I see thousands of young, bright and energetic people who have become slaves of overseas MNCs and our pathetic educational and political system.)

4. Even after lapse of 40 years after he gave this speech, situation has not changed much. What he said is still true today. Isn't a great shame?

I won't take much of your time. Time to read the entire speech.

Balraj Sahni's Convocation Address at Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi, 1972

About twenty years ago, the Calcutta Film Journalists' Association decided to honour the late Bimal Roy, the maker of Do Bigha Zameen and us, his colleagues. It was a simple but tasteful ceremony. Many good speeches were made, but the listeners were waiting anxiously to hear Bimal Roy. We were all sitting on the floor, and I was next to Bimal Da. I could see that as his turn approached he became increasingly nervous and restless. And when his turn came he got up, folded his hands and said, “Whatever I have to my I say if in my films. I have nothing more to say,” and sat down.

There is a lot in what Bimal Da did, and at this moment my greatest temptation is to follow his example. The fact that I am not doing so is due solely to the profound regard I have for the name which this august institution bears; and the regard I have for yet another person, Shri P.C. Joshi, who is associated with your university. I owe to him some of the greatest moments of my life, a debt which I can never repay. That is why when I received an invitation to speak on this occasion, I found it impossible to refuse. If you had invited me to sweep your doorstep I would have felt equally happy and honoured. Perhaps that service would have been more equal to my merit.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not trying to be modest. Whatever I said was from my heart and whatever I shall say further on will also be from my heart, whether you find it agreeable and in accordance with the tradition and spirit of such occasions or otherwise. As you may know, I have been out of touch with the academic world for more than a quarter of a century. I have never addressed a University Convocation before.

It would not be out of place to mention that the severance of my contact with your world has not been voluntary. It has been due to the special conditions of film making in our country. Our little film world either offers the actor too little work, forcing him to eat his heart out in idleness; or gives him too much --so much that he gets cut off from all other currents of life. Not only does he sacrifice the pleasures of normal family life, but he also has to ignore his intellectual and spiritual needs.

In the last twenty-five years have worked in more than one hundred and twenty five films. In the same period a contemporary European or American actor would have done thirty or thirty-five. From this you can imagine what a large part of my life lies buried in strips of celluloid. A vast number of books which I should have read I have not been able to read. So many events I should have taken part in have passed me by. Sometimes I feel terribly left behind. And the frustration increases when I ask myself how many of these one hundred and twenty-five films had anything significant in them? How many have any claim to be remembered? Perhaps a few. They could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And even they have either been forgotten already or will be, quite soon.

That is why I said I was not being modest. I was only giving a warning, so that in the event of my disappointing you, you should be able to forgive me. Bimal Roy was right. The artist's domain is his work. So, since I must speak, I must confine myself to my own experience to what I have observed and felt, and wish to communicate. To go outside that would be pompous and foolish.

I'd like to tell you about an incident which took place in my college days and which I have never been able to forget. It has left a permanent impression on my mind.

I was going by bus from Rawalpindi to Kashmir with my family to enjoy the summer vacation. Half-way through we were halted because a big chunk of the road had been swept away by a landslide caused by rain the previous night. We joined the long queues of buses and cars on either side of the landslide. Impatiently we waited for the road to clear. It was a difficulty job for the P.W.D. and it took some days before they could cut a passage through. During all this time the passengers and the drivers of vehicles made a difficult situation even more difficult by their impatience and constant demonstration. Even the villagers nearby got fed up with the high-handed behaviour of the city-walas.

One morning the overseer declared the road open. The green- flag was waved to the drivers. But we saw a strange sight. No driver was willing to be the first to cross. They just. stood and stared at each other from either side. No doubt the road was a make-shift one and even dangerous. A mountain on one side, and a deep gorge and the river below. Both were forbidding. The overseer had made a careful inspection and had opened the road with a full sense of responsibility. But nobody was prepared to trust his judgment, although these very people had, till yesterday, I accused him and his department of laziness and incompetence. Half an hour passed by in dumb silence. Nobody moved.

Suddenly we saw a small green sports car approaching. An Englishman was driving it; sitting all by himself. He was a bit surprised to see so many parked vehicles and the crowd there. I was rather conspicuous, wearing my smart jacket and trousers. "What's happened?" he asked me.

I told him the whole story. He laughed loudly, blew the horn and went straight ahead, crossing the dangerous portion without the least hesitation.

And now the pendulum swung the other way. Every body was so eager to cross that they got into each other's way and created a new-confusion for some time. The noise of hundreds of engines and hundreds of horns was unbearable.

That day I saw with my own eyes the difference in attitudes between a man brought up in a free country and a man brought up in an enslaved one. A free man has the power to think, decide, and act for himself. But the slave loses that power. He always borrows his thinking from others, wavers in his decisions, and more often than not only takes the trodden path.

I learnt a lesson from this incident, which has been valuable to me. I made it a test for my own life. In the course of my life, whenever I have been able to make my own crucial decisions, I have been happy. I have felt the breath 'of freedom on my face. I have called myself a free man. My spirit has soared high and I have enjoyed life because I have felt there is meaning to life.

But, to be frank, such occasions have been too few. More often, than not I had lost courage at the crucial moment, and taken shelter under the wisdom of other people. I had taken the safer path. I made decisions which were expected of me by my family, by the bourgeois class to which I belonged, and the set of values upheld by them. I thought one way but acted in another. For this reason, afterwards I have felt rotten.

Some decisions have proved ruinous in terms of human happiness. Whenever I lost courage, my life became a meaningless burden.

I told you about an Englishman. 1 think that in itself is symptomatic of the sense of inferiority that I felt at that time. I could have given you the example of Sardar Bhagat Singh who went to the gallows the same year. I could have given you the example of Mahatma Gandhi who always had the courage to decide for himself. I remember how my college professors and the wise respectable people of my home town shook their heads over the folly of Mahatma Gandhi, who thought he could defeat the most powerful empire on earth with his Utopian principles of truth and non-violence. I think less than one per cent of the people of my city dreamt that they would see India free in their lifetime. But Mahatma Gandhi had faith in himself, in his country, and his people. Some of you may have seen a painting of Gandhiji done by Nandlal Bose. It is the picture of a man who has the courage to think and act for himself.

During my college days I was not influenced by Bhagat Singh or Mahatma Gandhi. I was doing my M.A. in English literature from the most magnificent educational institution in the Punjab-the Government College in Lahore. Only the very best students were admitted to that college. After independence my fellow students have achieved the highest positions in India and Pakistan, both in the government and society. But, to gain admission to this college we had to give a written undertaking that we would take no interest in any political movement-which at that time meant the freedom movement.

This year we are celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of our independence. But can we honestly say that we have got rid of our slavish mentality--our inferiority complex?

Can we claim that at the personal, social, or institutional level, our thinking, our decisions, or even our actions are our own and not borrowed? Are we really free in the spiritual sense? Can we dare to think and act for ourselves, or do we merely pretend to do so-merely make a superficial show of independence.

I should like to draw your attention to the film industry to which I belong. I know a great many of our films are such that the very mention of them would raise a laugh among you. In the eyes of educated intelligent people, Hindi films are nothing but a tamasha. Their stories are childish, unreal, and illogical. But their worst fault, you will agree with me, is that their plots, their technique, their songs and dances, betray blind, unimaginative, and unabashed copying of films from the west. There have been Hindi films which have been copied in every detail from some foreign film. No wonder that you young people laugh at us, even though some of you may dream of becoming stars yourselves.

It is not easy for me to laugh at Hindi films. I earn my bread from them. They have brought me plenty of fame and wealth. To some extent at least, I owe to Hindi films the high honour which you have given me today.

When I was a student like you, our teachers, both English and Non-English, tried to convince us in diverse ways that the fine arts were a prerogative of white people. Great films, great drama, great acting, great painting, etc., were only possible in Europe and America. The Indian people, their language and culture, were as yet too crude and backward for real artistic expression. We used to feel bitter about this and we resented it outwardly: but inwardly we could not help accepting this judgment.

The picture has changed vastly since then. After independence India has made a tremendous recovery in every branch of the arts. In the field of film making, names like Satyajit Ray and Bimal Roy stand out as international personalities. Many of our artistes, cameramen and technicians compare with the best anywhere in the world. Before independence we hardly made ten or fifteen films worth the name. Today we are the biggest film producing country in the world. Not only are our films immensely popular with the masses in our own country, but also in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, the Eastern Republics of the Soviet Union; Egypt, and other Arab countries in the Far East and many African countries. We have broken the monopoly of Hollywood in this field.

Even from the aspect of social responsibility, our Indian films have not yet degenerated to the low level to which some of the western countries have descended. The film producer in India has not yet exploited sex and crime for the sake of profit to the extent that his American counterpart has been doing for years and years-thus creating a serious social problem for that country.

But all these assets are negated by our one overwhelming fault-that we are imitators and copyists. This one fault makes us the laughing stock of intelligent people everywhere. We make films according to borrowed, outdated formulas. We do not have the courage to strike out on our own, to get to grips with the reality of our own country, to present it convincingly and according to our own genius.

I say this not only in relation to the usual Hindi or Tamil box office films. I make this complaint against our so-called progressive and experimental films also, whether they be in Bengali, Hindi, or Malayalam. I do not lag behind anyone else in admiring the work of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Sukhdev, Basu Bhattacharjee, or Rajinder Singh Bedi. I know they are highly and deservingly respected;but even then I cannot help saying that the winds of fashion in Italy, France, Sweden, Poland, or Czechoslovakia have an immediate effect on their work. They do break new ground, but only after someone else has broken it.

In the literary world, in which I have considerable interest, I see the same picture. Our novelists, story writers, and poets are carried away with the greatest of ease by the currents of fashion in Europe, although Europe, with the exception of the Soviet Union perhaps, is not yet even aware of Indian writing. For example, in my own province of the Punjab there is a wave of protest among young poets against the existing social order. Their poetry exhorts the people to rebel against it, to shatter it and build a better world free from corruption, injustice, and exploitation. One cannot but endorse that spirit wholeheartedly, because, without question, the present social order needs changing.

The content of this poetry is most admirable, but the form is not indigenous. It is borrowed from the west. The west has discarded meter and rhyme, so our Punjabi poet must also discard it. He must also use involved and ultra-radical imagery. The result is that the sound and fury remains only on paper, confined to small, mutually admiring literary circles. The people, the workers and the peasants who are being exhorted to revolution, cannot make head or tail of this kind of poetry. It just leaves them cold and per The content of this poetry is most admirable, but the form is not indigenous. It is borrowed from the west. The west has discarded meter and rhyme, so our Punjabi poet must also discard it. He must also use involved and ultra-radical imagery. The result is that the sound and fury remains only on paper, confined to small, mutually admiring literary circles. The people, the workers and the peasants who are being exhorted to revolution, cannot make head or tail of this kind of poetry. It just leaves them cold and perplexed. I don't think I am wrong if I say that other Indian languages too are in the grip of "new wave" poetry.

I know next to nothing about painting. I can't judge a good one from a bad one. But I have noticed that in this sphere also our painters conform to current fashions abroad. Very few have the courage to swim against the tide.

And what about the academic world? I invite you to I look into the mirror. If you laugh at Hindi films, maybe you are tempted to laugh at yourselves.

This year my own province honoured me by nominating me to the senate of Guru Nanak university. When the invitation to attend the first meeting came, I happened to be in the Punjab, wandering around in some villages near Preet Nagar-the cultural centre founded by our great writer S. Gurbakhsh Singh. During the evening's gossip I told my villager friends that I was to go to Amritsar to attend this meeting and if anyone wanted a lift in my car he was welcome. At this one of the company said, "Here among us you go about dressed in tehmat-kurta, peasant fashion; but tomorrow you will put on your suit and become Sahib Bahadur again." "Why," I said laughingly, "if you want I will go dressed just like this." "You will never dare," another one said. "Our sarpanch Sahib here removes his tehmat and puts on a pyjama whenever he has to go to the city on official work. He has to do it, otherwise, he says, he is not respected. How can yon go peasant-fashion to such a big university?" A jawan who had come home on leave for the rice sowing added, "Our sarpanch is a coward. In cities even girls go about wearing lungis these days. Why should he not be respected?"

The gossip went on, and, as if to accept their challenge, I did make my appearance in the Senate meeting in tehmat-kurta. The sensation I created was beyond my expectation. The officer-perhaps, professor-who was handing out the gowns in the vestibule could not recognize me at first. When he did he could not hide his amusement, "Mr Sahni, with the tehmat you should have worn khosas-not shoes," he said, while putting the gown over my shoulders. "I shall be careful next time," I said apologetically and moved on. But a moment later I asked myself, was it not bad manners for the professor to notice or comment on my dress? Why did I not point this out to him? T felt peeved' over my slow-wittedness.

After the meeting we went over to meet the students. Their amusement was even greater and more eloquent. Many of them could not help laughing at the fact that I was wearing shoes with a tehmat. That they were wearing chappals with trousers seemed nothing extraordinary to them.

You must wonder why I am wasting your time narrating such trivial incidents. But look at it from the point of view of the Punjabi peasant. We are all full of admiration for his contribution to the green revolution. He is the backbone of our armed forces. How must he feel when his dress or his way of life is treated as a matter of amusement?

It is well-known in the Punjab that as soon as a village lad receives college education he becomes indifferent to the village. He begins to consider himself superior and different, as if belonging to a separate world altogether. His one ambition is to somehow leave the village and run to a city. Is this not a slur on the academic world?

I agree that all places are not alike. I know perfectly well that no complex against the native dress exists in Tamil Nadu or Bengal. Anyone from a peasant to a professor can go about in a dhoti on any occasion. But I submit that the habit of borrowed and idealized thinking is present over there too. It is present everywhere, in some form or degree. Even twenty-five years after independence we are blissfully carrying on with the same system of education which was designed by Macaulay and Co. to breed clerks and mental slaves. Slaves who would be incapable of thinking independently of their British masters; slaves who would admire everything about the masters, even while hating them; slaves who would consider it an honour to be standing by the side, of the masters, to speak the language of the masters, to dress like the masters, to sing and dance like the masters; slaves, who would hate their own people and would be available .to preach the gospel of hatred among their own people. Can we then be surprised if the large majority of students in universities are losing faith in this system of education?

Let me go back to trivialities again. Ten years ago, if you asked a fashionable student in Delhi to wear a kurta with trousers he would have laughed at you. Today, by the grace of the hippies and the Hare Rama Hare Krishna cult, not only has the kurta-trousers combination become legitimate, but even the word kurta has changed to guru-shirt. The sitar became a star instrument with us only after the Americans gave a big welcome to Ravi Shankar, just as fifty years ago Tagore became Gurudev all over India only after he received the Nobel Prize from Sweden.

Can you dare to ask a college student to shave his head, moustache, and beard when the fashion is to put the barbers out of business? But if tomorrow under the influence of Yoga the students of Europe begin to shave their heads arid faces, I can assure you that you will begin to see a crop of shaven skulls all over Connaught Circus the next day. Yoga has to get a certificate from Europe before it can influence the home of its birth.

Let me give another example-a less trivial one.

I work in Hindi films, but it is an open secret that the songs and dialogues of these Hindi films are mostly written in Urdu. Eminent Urdu writers and poets-Krishan Chandar, Rajinder Singh Bedi, K. A. Abbas, Gulshan Nanda Sahir Ludhianwi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and Kaifi Azmi are associated with this work.

Now, if a film written in Urdu can be called a Hindi film, it is logical to conclude that Hindi and Urdu are one and, the same language. But no, our British masters declared them two separate languages in their time. Therefore, even twenty-five years after independence, our government,: our universities, and our intellectuals insist on treating them as two separate and independent languages. Pakistan radio goes on ruining the beauty of this language by thrusting into it as many Persian and Arabic words as possible; and All India Radio knocks it out of all shape by pouring the entire Sanskrit dictionary into it. In this way they carry out the wish of the Master, to separate the inseparable. Can anything be more absurd than that? If the British told us that white was black, would we go on calling white black for ever and ever? My film colleague Johnny Walker remarked the other day, "They should not announce 'Ab Hindi mein samachar suniye' they should say, 'Ab Samachar mein Hindi suniye.'

I have discussed this funny situation with many Hindi and Urdu writers-the so-called progressive as well as non progressive; I have tried to convince them of the urgency to do some fresh thinking on the subject. But so far it has been like striking one's head against a stone wall. We film people call it the "ignorance of the learned." Are we wrong?

Lastly, I would like to tell you about a hunch I have, even at the risk of boring you. A hunch is something you can't help having. It just comes. Ultimately it may prove right or wrong. May be mine is wrong. But there it is. It may even prove right-who knows?

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru has admitted in his autobiography that our freedom movement, led by the Indian National Congress, was always dominated by the propertied classes-the capitalists and landlords. It was logical, therefore, that these very classes should hold the reigns of power even after independence. Today it is obvious to everyone that in the last twenty-five years the rich have been growing 'richer' and the poor have been growing poorer. Pandit Nehru wanted to change this state of affairs, but he couldn't. I don't blame him, because he had to face very heavy odds all along. Today our Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, pledges herself to take the country towards the goal of socialism. How far she will be successful, I can't say. Politics is not my line. For our present purposes it is enough if you agree with me that in today's India the propertied classes dominate the government as well as society.

I think you will also agree that the British used the English language with remarkable success for strengthening their imperial hold on our country.

Now, which language in your opinion would their successors, the present rulers of India, choose to strengthen their own domination? Rashtrabhasha Hindi? By heavens, no. My hunch is that their interests too are served by English and English alone. But since they have to keep up a show of patriotism they make a lot of noise about Rashtrabhasha Hindi so that the mind of the public remains diverted.

Men of property may believe in a thousand different gods, but they worship only one-the God of profit. From the point of view of profit the advantages of retaining English to the capitalist class in this period of rapid industrialization and technological revolution are obvious. But the social advantages are even greater. From that point of view English is a God sent gift to our ruling classes.

Why? For the simple reason that the English language is beyond the reach of the toiling millions of our country. In olden times Sanskrit and Persian were beyond the reach of the toiling masses. That is why the rulers of those times had given them the status of state language. Through Sanskrit and Persian the masses were made to feel ignorant, inferior, uncivilized, and unfit to rule themselves. Sanskrit and Persian helped to enslave their minds, and when the mind is enslaved bondage is eternal.

It suits our present ruling classes to preserve and maintain the social order that they have inherited from the British. They have a privileged position; but they cannot admit it openly. That is why a lot of hoo-haw is made about Hindi as the Rashtrabhasha. They know very well that this Sanskrit-laden, artificial language, deprived of all modern scientific and technical terms, is too weak and insipid to challenge the supremacy of English. It will always remain a show piece, and what is more, a convenient tool to keep the masses fighting among themselves. We film people get a regular flow of fan mail from young people studying in schools and colleges. I get my share of it and these letters reveal quite clearly what a storehouse of torture the English language is to the vast majority of Indian students. How abysmally low the levels of teaching and learning have reached! That is why, I am told preferential treatment is being given to boys and girls who come from public schools i.e. schools to which only the children of privileged classes can go.

It is not necessary for me to comment on the efforts being made to strengthen English in every sphere of life, despite assurances to the contrary. They are all too obvious. It is admitted that English is too alien and hence too difficult to learn for the average Indian. And yet, it helps the capitalists and industrialists to consolidate their position on an all-India scale. That one consideration is more important than any other. According to them whatever serves their interest automatically serves national interest too. They are hopeful that in the not too distant future the people themselves will endorse their stand-that English should retain its present status for ever.

This was my hunch and I confided it one day to a friend of mine who is a labour leader. I told him that if we are serious about doing away with capitalism and bringing in socialism, we have to help the working class to consolidate itself on an all-India scale with the same energy as the capitalist class is doing. We have to help the working class achieve a leading role in society. And that can only be done by breaking the domination of English and replacing it with a people's language.

My friend listened to me carefully and largely agreed with me. "You have analyzed the situation very well," he said, "but what is the remedy?"

"The remedy is to retain the English script and kick out the English language," I replied.

"But how?"

"A rough and ready type of Hindustani is used by the working masses all over India. They make practical use of it by discarding all academic and grammatical flourishes. In this type of Hindustani, "Larka bhi jata hei" and "Larki bhi jata hei." There is an atmosphere of rare freedom in this patois and even the intellectuals indulge in it when they want to relax. And actually this is in the best tradition of Hindustani. This is how it was born, made progress, and acquired currency all over India. In the old days it was contemptuously called Urdu-or the language of the camps or bazaars.

Today in this bazaari Hindustani the word university becomes univrasti-a much better word than vishwa vidyalaya, lantern becomes laltain, the chasis of a car becomes chesi, spanner becomes pana, i.e. anything and everything is possible. The string with which the soldier cleans his rifle is called "pullthrough" in English. In Roman Hindustani it becomes fultroo–a beautiful word. "Barn-door" is the term the Hollywood lights man uses for a particular type of two blade' cover. The Bombay film worker has changed it to bandar, an excellent transformation. This Hindustani has untold and unlimited possibilities. It can absorb the international scientific and technological vocabulary with the greatest of ease. It can take words from every source and enrich itself. One has no need to run only to the Sanskrit dictionary."

"But why the Roman script?" my friend asked.

"Because no one has any prejudice against it," I said. "It is the only script which has already gained all-India currency. In north, south, east and west, you can see shop signs and film poster in this script. We use this script for writing addresses on envelopes and post cards. The army has been using it for the last thirty years at least."

My friend, the labour leader, kept silent for some time. Then he smiled indulgently and said, "Comrade, Europe also experimented with Esperanto. A great intellectual like Bernard Shaw tried his best to popularize the Basic English. But all these schemes failed miserably, for the simple reason that languages cannot be evolved mechanically; they grow spontaneously."

I was deeply shocked. I said, "Comrade, Esperanto is just that Rashtrabhasha which the Hindi Pandits are manufacturing in their studies, from the pages of some Sanskrit dictionary. I am talking of the language which is growing all round you, through the action of the people."

But I couldn't convince him. I gave more arguments, including the one that Netaji Subhash Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru were both strong advocates of Roman Hindustani, but that too failed to convince him. The question is not whether the comrade or I was right. Perhaps, I was wrong. Perhaps, my thinking was utopian, or "mechanical"-as he called it. As I said before, you can never say whether a hunch is going to be right or wrong. But the fun lies in having it, because to have a hunch is a sign of independent thinking. The comrade should have been able to appreciate that, but he couldn't, because it was difficult for him to get out of the grooves of orthodox thinking.

No country can progress unless it becomes conscious of its being-its mind and body. It has to learn to exercise its own muscles. It has to learn to find out and solve its own problems in its own way. But whichever way I turn I find that even after twenty-five years of independence, we are like a bird which has been let out of its cage after a prolonged imprisonment-unable to know what to do with its freedom. It has wings, but is afraid to fly into the open air. It longs to remain within defined limits, as in the cage.

Individually and collectively, we resemble Walter Mitty. Our inner lives are different from our outer lives. Our thoughts and actions are poles apart. We want to change this state of affairs, but we lack the courage to do anything different from what we have been doing all along-or different from what others expect us to do.

I am sure there must be some police officers in this country who in their hearts want to be regarded as friends rather than enemies of the public. They must be aware that in England the behaviour of the police towards the public is polite and helpful. But the tradition in which they have been trained is not the one which the British set for their own country but the one which they set for their colonies. So, the policeman is helpless. According to this colonial tradition, it is his duty to strike terror into anyone who enters his office, to be as obstructive and unhelpful as possible. This is the tradition which pervades every government office, from the chaparasi to the minister.

One of our young and enterprising producers made an experimental film and approached the Government for tax exemption. The minister concerned was being sworn into office the next day. He invited the producer to attend the ceremony, after which he would meet him and discuss the matter. The producer went, impressed by the informality with which the minister had treated him. As the minister was being sworn in, promising to serve the people truly, faithfully, and honestly, his secretary started explaining to the young producer how much he would have to pay in black money to the minister and how much to the others if he wanted the tax exemption.

The producer got so shocked and angry that he wanted to put this scene in his next film. But his financiers had already suffered a loss with the first one. They told him categorically not to make an ass of himself. In any case, if he had insisted in making an ass of himself the censors would never have passed the film, because it is an unwritten law that no policeman or minister is corrupt in our country.

But there is something which strikes me as being even funnier. Those same people who scream against ministers every day cannot themselves hold a single function without some minister inaugurating it, or presiding over it, or being the chief guest. Sometimes the minister is the chief guest and a film star is the president, or else the film star is the chief guest and the minister is the president. Some big personality has to be there, because it is the age old colonial tradition.

During the last war, I spent four years in England as a Hindustani announcer at the B.B.C. During those four years of extreme crisis I never even once set my eyes on a member of the British cabinet, including Prime Minister Churchill. But since independence I have seen nothing else but ministers in India, all over the place.

When Gandhiji went to the Round Table Conference in 1930, he remarked to British journalists that the Indian people regarded the guns and bullets of their empire in the same way as their children regarded the crackers and phatakas on Diwali day. He could make that claim because he had driven the fear of the British out of Indian minds. He had taught them to ignore and boycott the British officers instead of kowtowing to them.

Similarly, if we want socialism in our country we have firstly to drive out the fear of money, position, and power from the minds of our people. Are we doing anything in that direction? In our society today who is respected most -the man with talent or the man with money? Who is admired most-the man with talent or the man with power? Can we ever hope to usher in socialism under such conditions? Before socialism can come we have to create an atmosphere in which possession of wealth and riches should invite disrespect rather than respect. We have to create an atmosphere in which the highest respect is given to labour whether it be physical or mental; to talent, to skill, to art, and to inventiveness. This requires, new thinking; and the courage to discard old ways of thinking. Are we anywhere near this revolution of the mind?

Perhaps, today we need a messiah to give us the courage to abandon our slavishness and to create values befitting the human beings of a free and independent country so that we may have the courage to link our destinies to the ones being ruled, and not the rulers-to the exploited and not to the exploiters.

A great saint of the Punjab, Guru Arjun Dev, said,

Jan ki tehl sanbhaionhah jan

Uthan bithan jan kaisanga

Jan char raj mukh mathai laagi

Aasa pooran anant taranga.

It is my earnest hope and prayer that you, graduates of Jawaharlal Nehru University may succeed where I and so many others of my generation have failed.

Seven questions to a Cloud computing Vendor

2011-02-01T19:32:00.005+05:30

I'm really surprised by the hype created around Cloud computing. I just fail to understand how can any one give his data in the hand of a faceless vendor?

I've following seven questions to any one who is offering Cloud services:

1. If data is stolen - how does the Cloud vendor compensate the customer?

2. What's cost and effort involved in switching to another vendor along with my existing data?

3. What happens if vendor decides to change terms of his services at a later date; or worst, decides to close his service offering after say 1 year's notice e.g., Cisco, Microsoft as per their contract terms?

4. What remedy is there for a customer if vendor does not answer customer's service calls satisfactorily?

5. What kind of legal protection is there for a customer when data is compromised or he gets un-satisfactory service from the vendor?

6. Are cyber laws simple enough to indict the vendor and get legal remedy without spending great money, effort and time?

7. If there is a data loss due to accident, human error, bug in application, application error, power outage, virus/malware attack, hacker attack - how will I get my data basck and in how do I compensated for the loss?

Latest news from PC World (3 Feb 2011):

"Just this week there have been two significant events that call the virtues of cloud storage into question. First, Mozy dropped its unlimited storage option--signaling an end to infinite online storage. Second, online photo service Flickr accidentally deleted a user's account--and along with it 4,000 photos and years of effort uploading, cataloging, organizing, and linking to them."

Latest news from Cisco (23 Feb 2011):
Cisco Systems has decided to kill its cloud-based e-mail service Cisco Mail, only 13 months after it was introduced, the company said. With the growing acceptance of cloud services, Cisco saw a chance to offer e-mail services along with its successful WebEx Conferencing service, which combines desktop sharing through a web browser with phone and video conferencing. But it seems customers weren't as interested in getting e-mail from the networking giant.

Status of Income Tax Refund

2010-11-26T16:55:00.001+05:30

There is a very useful service started by Income tax department to find out status of your Income tax refund. But useful of such an important service is marred by bad data in the Income tax database. For example see following screen-shot from the website.

Notice that contradictory information is shown

Notice the text in bigger red circle. First column says "cheque has not been sent" and next column says "refund cheque is encashed".
Also, notice that refund is sent on 10-8-2006 for the Assessment Year 2007-08 i.e., Financial year ended on 31-3-2007. So, our Income tax department is so efficient and forward looking that they are able to send the refund on 10-8-2006 before year has ended on 31-3-2007!! I like this efficiency.

It clearly shows that Income tax database is in a mess. And such mess can be easily traced back to the people who enter data in to the system. So, it's a garbage in garbage out.

Recently (24-6-2010) there was a press release by Income tax that said:
“The Income Tax Department has taken the initiative to clean up the mismatched TDS data base. Many refunds are pending with the IT Department due to the mismatch of tax paid by the assessee, but the same is not being reflected in the computer software of the department.”

If you are interested in knowing reactions of citizen's of India on such public admission of failure - visit following site:
http://taxguru.in/income-tax/i-t-department-decided-to-clean-up-the-mismatched-tds-database-and-issue-income-tax-refunds.html

I am victim of above mentioned mismatched TDS database. My Income-tax return's TDS figures are no-where near to the data shown on Form AS-26 that I got from TIN website. And when I inquired Income tax department by visiting my Assessing Officer (AO) - TDS data on his computer's AS-26 for me - does not match with AS-26 that I got from the TIN website. So, I'm in a total mess because I'm trying to reconcile three different sets of TDS details viz., one that I've based on TDS certificates, second is Form 26-AS based on TIN website and third is TDS details (AS-26) that I got from AO's computer. You don't believe me? If you want proof - I'm ready to provide the same. Just write to me.

And now Income tax department has issued notices for recovery of tax. When rectification is filed u/s 154 for the correction - poor letter gets filed in AO's files. Ideally AO should do the correction in 6 months. In one of my correction dated 21-4-2003 for Assessment Year 2001-02 - no correction has been done so far and demand is still pending!! My wife has filed for correction u/s 154 on 19-5-2010 for AY 2008-09; and as on 24-11-2010 - when I appeared before her AO and inquired him if corrections were done. He said our CA should bring it to his notice by writing a letter and attaching copy of correction letter u/s 154 filed with him! In fact, as per IT rules he was bound to have done the correction in 6 months i.e., on or before 18-11-2010!

I don't have doubt that we are living in "Incredible India."

Understanding IT Software Business Model in view of tax confusion

2010-11-16T15:11:00.022+05:30

ISODA's writ petition demanding removal of Service tax on Packaged Software got dismissed by the Madras high court on 24th August 2010. The order said that government has right to levy Service tax on IT Software and is well within the rights conferred to it by the Indian Constitution. It further confirmed that software is 'goods' but transaction involving transfer of right to use - between ISODA member (software reseller) and End user could be 'sale' or 'service' depending upon what is written in the End User License Agreement (EULA) from the software developer / copyright owner.

Tax experts concurred that interpretation of order could pose serious difficulty to the business operations of the software resellers - as would be difficult to read EULA of each Packaged Software license and determine whether the transaction is a 'sale' or 'service' or combination of the two. Doing so would be subject to the interpretation of a legal agreement - which is not within capacity of an ordinary end user or a software reseller or a field level government officer. But order did anticipate such problems and said that ISODA member could resist the tax demand when made; and could approach the court for clarification.

I feel that it is almost impossible for an average person to find out whether the transaction is a 'sale' or 'service' by merely reading the text of the EULA due to its complicated legal language and its interpretation. Due to this difficulty, it is likely that each government officer would interpret the EULA in a way convenient to his department. So, one can foresee a slow but sure build-up of numerous disputes and litigations over sale v/s service interpretation all over India.

Supreme court had opined in the TCS case that EULA is only a mechanism to enforce copyright protection i.e., restrict usage with certain terms and conditions. So, to read and interpret EULA to determine nature of transaction may not turn out to be a practical solution.

Upon doing the fine reading of the order and slight reflection, I came to conclusion that only handful of people understand business model of IT software properly. And all tax confusion is because of lack of this perspective. If one understands nature and characteristics IT software with its different modes of delivery - it is easy for any one to come to the understanding that one may not have to read EULA to determine nature of transaction between the End User and the software developer.

When we say that business of Packaged Software is an industry worth billions of dollars, there has to be a common thread that makes it as one big industry. Currently there is an urgent need to identify such commonality of characteristics and quickly establish nature of IT software transactions. For example, it is established by courts well that sale of Electricity is 'goods', providing Telephony services is a 'service', sale of mobile SIM cards is a 'service' for first transaction and 'goods' subsequently. It is simply not practical to keep reading and interpreting EULA of each packaged product. But, million dollar question is who will do this for the IT software industry in India?

So, I set out to put down basic ground realities of IT software business on a piece of paper for the sake of better understanding. In the piece below I have tried to draw the picture and you may decide - if it adds to your understanding of the nature of software transactions.

Information Technology Software vis-a-vis other types of software
Electronics has brought revolution to the modern world beyond what a men could have ever imagined just 150 years back. Over last 40 years a new branch of Electronics emerged with general purpose or programmable electronic devices called Computers and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). Computers were found useful in business and PLCs were found useful in Industries for automation. This general purpose Computers and its network became very popular and started being used widely all over the world. This branch of Electronics popularly came to be known as Information Technology. While PLCs and other special purpose Electronic items also progressed at a fast pace. But among them except for Smart Mobile Phones most of the electronic items remained an item performing one specific function for which it was designed.

So, Information Technology (IT) is a branch of Electronics with attendant Hardware device, Software and network of such devices using Telecommunication Networks. Other programmable electronic items are known as PLCs, CNC machines, Industrial Robots etc.; and special purpose electronic items like Television sets, Audio-Video Players and Recorders, Digital Cameras, Telephone Instruments including Mobile phones, Automobile electronics, Rail Electronics, Satellite Electronics, Home gadget Electronics for Washing Machines, Microwave Ovens, Cooking Stoves etc. All of these electronic devices are run by great piece of software inside it but it's not IT software. In fact, TV programs recorded in studios for telecast on TV channels is called TV software! And we are not talking about it either, here.

Technical Nitti-gritty
Each of this electronic item is made up of two parts - popularly known as hardware and software. Software is of two type - embedded and programmable. Generally speaking, embedded software is hard-coded i.e., non-changeable software and is integral and essential part for working of the electronic device; it is considered part and parcel of hardware. While programmable software is modifiable and replaceable in nature - although non-essential many a times - but could make important contribution to the usefulness of the electronic device. So, when IT software is referred to - we are referring to programmable software used by computers or network of computers.

Such IT software is developed by a Software Developer using certain type of software called Development tools which include various type of Software languages like C, Java, Cobol, Pascal, Assembly, Fortran etc. and development tools like Visual Studio, Eclipse; and Databases like Oracle, DB2, Informix, Sybase etc.

IT Software developer would develop a software using above mentioned development tools for a specific client based on his specific requirement - called Customized Software; or develop a general purpose software - designed and developed keeping in mind needs of many users having similar requirement - called Packaged Software.

Packaged Software Business
Development of Packaged software is a business with great risks and great rewards. Few outstanding examples of this business model are Microsoft, Symantec, Adobe, McAfee, Autodesk etc. Software development, Manufacturing and Distribution of Packaged software is internationally a big business running in to billions of Dollars. In India, this business size is estimated to be Rs.10,000 crore a year.

Diagram below depicts the licensing and distribution model of Packaged IT Software.

IT Software Licensing and Distribution Model

First and foremost point to be noted to understand this business model is that packaged software is licensed to the end user by an End User License Agreement. It is an agreement between Software Developer (or Vendor - who is also a copyright owner, say Microsoft) - who is also a copyright owner and End User (say Coal India Ltd or Sachin Tendulkar).

Vendor provides his packaged software in the market to various types of customers like Replicators & Distribution companies, End users including companies/organizations, hardware vendors on OEM basis and other independent software vendors/developers - by packaging it differently through various license agreements. And Vendor receives money for the same from various customers depending upon terms of the license agreements.

Typically it's a two tier model - where an intermediate company is given license to replicate and distribute. It is essentially a license to do the "production" or "manufacturing"; and the resulting product is sold or distributed in the market to reach the end user via a traditional distribution channel or via eCommerce transaction.

Packaged Software delivered in many different forms
One important point to be noted here is that packaged software is delivered to end user in various forms of delivery viz., Media (CD/DVD/Storage device), Internet Download, Network Delivery, Backup Media/Storage Device etc. How packaged software is delivered to the end user does not matter or alter the nature of transaction. Even one of the explanatory notes released by Tax Research Unit said following:
------
D.O. F. No.334/1/2008-TRU Date: 29-2-2008
..
4.1.5 Software and upgrades of software are also supplied electronically, known as digital delivery. Taxation is to be neutral and should not depend on forms of delivery. Such supply of IT software electronically shall be covered within the scope of the proposed service.
------

On this point of forms of delivery there has been lot of confusion in the mind of various people - so this point requires careful consideration while deciding on nature of transaction.

Resell of Packaged Services
In the above diagram, one more point to be noted is that in this model - "Subscription License" which involves some kind of service for 1 or 2 year period - is productized (or packaged - in other words). So here, a service (if any) is packaged and sold, resold and distributed like a product. It is important to recognize this unique distribution model of "service" - as its improper understanding may pose some difficulty with respect to taxation issues. I would like to call it as a "resell of a service".

So, in the context of IT software - government should recognize and accept that "resell and distribution of service" should be treated as trading transaction i.e., "sale" - as there is no element of "service" provided by the reseller. Also, the transaction should not be subjected to TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) because its only a "sale" or "trading" transaction. In all these transactions, actual service provider is the software developer and actual service recipient is end user. And reseller is only facilitating the transaction by trading/sale of a productized service.

Given below is the tabular depiction of the Business and Distribution Model of IT Software.

Business and Distribution Model of IT Software

I know, above diagram is difficult at first glance; and would interest you only if you are really interested in understanding business and distribution model of IT software. Any way, give it a try.

Current taxation structure for ISODA members is depicted below:

Various Taxes on IT Software distribution in India

So, say when Sachin Tendulkar buys say Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business Edition box pack with DVD by paying say Rs.10,000/- from a store he get a copy of software developed by Microsoft Corporation,USA, manufactured by Microsoft Operations Pte Ltd, Singapore (MO) and sold to Croma through an Indian distributor like Ingram Micro India Ltd (IMIL) via Microsoft Regional Sales Corporation, Singapore (MRSC). So, distribution path is MC --> MO --> MRSC --> IMIL --> Croma --> Sachin Tendulkar.

Similarly when Coal India Ltd (CIL) purchases say 10 licenses of Microsoft Office 2010 Std by paying Rs.15,000/- per license - they get a piece of paper authorising them to use Microsoft Office 2010 Std on 10 PCs. CIL can install the software on 10 PCs from a media pack (DVD) purchased from the reseller at Rs.1,500/- per piece - which could be one time purchase. For the sake of simplicity - we shall assume that CIL had this media pack from its earlier purchase. Note that this paper license also follows same distribution route as shrink wrap box purchased by Sachin Tendulkar.

But Sachin Tendulkar pays VAT @5% on Rs.10,000/- i.e., Rs.10,500/-; and CIL pays Service Tax @10% on Rs.1,50,000/- i.e., cost of paper license; and VAT at 5% on the total viz., 1,65,000/-, taking total payment to Rs.1,73,000/- (rounded off). And while making payment to the reseller - CIL deducts TDS at 10% and pays the balance amount viz., 1,55,700/- to the reseller.

Assuming reseller's purchase price of each Microsoft Office 2010 Std to be Rs.14,000/-; he would had paid (Rs.14,000/- x 10 no.s + 10% Service tax) x 5% VAT = Rs.1,61,700/- to the distributor IMIL. Of course, he would also deduct 10% TDS and pay only balance to the distributor. But he will have to deposit TDS amount with Income tax immediately. So, while reseller made a profit of Rs.10,000/- in books of accounts; he lost Rs.6,000/- from his cash flow. So, net effect of Service tax and TDS on reseller is that reseller keeps on depositing more than 60% of his gross margin to Income tax department.

As far as reseller is concerned he just takes an order from CIL at Rs.15,000/- per license, places it on IMIL at Rs.14,000/- per license, who in turn purchases it from MRSC at say USD 290/- (Rs.45/USD= Rs.13,000/-) per license. And MRSC procures it from MO at say USD 260/- per license. And MO pays say USD 200/- per license as royalty to Microsoft under its replication and distribution agreement.

Summary and Recommendation
So, following points are very clear from the business model described above:
1. Once Packaged software is manufactured by the replication and distribution licensee it assumes nature of a product i.e., goods.
2. In the hand of distributor and reseller the product is sold as it is - without any service addition from his side. So, there is no element of service provided by the distributor or a reseller to the end user. So, it may not be correct to levy 10% service tax on a packaged software product from the reseller/distributor.
3. Since distributor / reseller is not providing any service to the customer, it may not be correct to deduct 10% TDS on his payment.

I hope careful reading of above three diagrams will clear most of the misunderstanding that is prevalent among Government Officials, Judiciary and Politicians; and help them to devise, design and interpret IT Software taxation structure in proper context with reasonable clarity.

In summary, it is easy to understand for any one that transaction related to a Packaged IT Software is essentially a sale / trading activity as far as software reseller is concerned. So, sale and distribution of Packaged IT Software should be treated as trading i.e., sale/purchase of goods/services and should be liable to taxes under Excise/Customs duty, VAT and as Business Income under Income tax.

Bringing supply of Packaged IT Software products under Service tax / Royalty regime has brought unnecessary complexities to the sun-rise industry. If government decides to continue taxing this industry with complex taxation laws, Packaged Software industry will die a slow but certain death. It's time we all wake up and take corrective action.

Tryst with Medical Fraternity

2010-11-16T13:06:00.008+05:30

My mother aged 72 years had a fall because a young child crossed her way while playing. She sat down on the ground and could not get up. She was brought home by some helpful people.

Upon simple visual examination we did not find any visible signs of a fracture like swelling or unbearable pain. Of course, she found it difficult to move right leg and had pain it was moved. So, a young physiotherapist was called in. She examined her and said that possibly there is no fracture and few sessions would do good to her. She started with some mild treatment on first day. But next day my mother sensed more pain compared to the previous day. So, we stopped her treatment - fearing that exercise may aggravate the pain and some experienced person should be called in.

Our friendly neighbour suggested a local bone-setter (hadd-vaidya) whose 3 generations have been curing ailments related to bones and setting bones. One young man arrived quickly and applied some oil and with a wooden massage aid and did some massage. My mother felt relief after the massage. He asked her to do Ice massage every few hours and apply a ayurvedic concoction (llap) every alternate day. He opined that hip joint ball is safe and fracture is not there. Even if it is there it could be hair line fracture. He suggested X-ray after few days of massage therapy - when things would get normal.

Next day we noticed a small red patch on the upper thigh. Next day it became bigger in size. When we inquired about it the young man said it's a good sign. He said, there is an injury inside (near bone) and blood oozing from there is now coming to the surface. It will become bigger and slowly fade in color and disperse. True to his explanation - the red patch became bigger and slowly started fading. But recovery was not good i.e., pain persisted after few massages also.

In the mean time, we contacted few clinics for a portable X-ray unit. We could locate one in our locality and contacted them. They said technician is on leave due to Diwali festival and he would return only after Diwali. We could not find any other lab with portable X-ray equipment.

So we called in the senior bone-setter. He found one leg to be shorter than other; and did some settings in his own way. He even moved the right leg up to the chest slowly; and there was not much pain. He also opined that possibly there is no fracture and she would become normal in about 10-15 days. My mother felt better after the visit. But after 2-3 days thing were back to old pain; and Diwali also came to an end.

On the first day after the Diwali, we called in the technician with portable X-ray machine. He promptly came and within half hour called saying there is a fracture in the hip joint requiring possibly an operation. My wife rushed to an Orthopaedic Surgeon and showed the report. He suggested surgical operation to fix the fractured bone with the help of a plate and screws. He mentioned his fees for operation and suggested that operation be done in some other hospital with ICU unit because of my mother's old age. He said all other charges for the hospitalisation will be extra. Upon inquiry he said cost of the Medicines, Operation theater and Anesthesiologist fees will be extra. Fine. He suggested two hospitals.

We inquired and settled with one because other one was almost full with only one vacant bed. I got contact of an Ambulance operator from the hospital. Contacted him to get Ambulance with a Wheel Chair. Rates quoted were higher than indicated by the hospital staff. So, after a negotiation we settled for Rs.550/- for a 500 meter ride to hospital!

Next day ambulance came one hour late after half a dozen phone calls. A young boy came in with a folded wheel chair. He did not know even how to open the folded wheel chair. After some struggle he managed and then put my mother in it and took it to the ambulance. The wheel-chair was lifted by 3 people to put inside the ambulance. But the wheel chair won't go inside because space between two cots was not enough to accommodate it. So, they lifted my mother and put her on one of the cots and made her sit there. Thus we reached the hospital. Ambulance guy had not brought the Bill for ambulance and demanded full money with promise to bring Bill by same day evening. After one week's follow-up we got the bill. I vowed not to call this Ambulance Service again and even gave feedback to the hospital about the service we got from them.

Experience at Hospital was good. Hospital insisted and made us sign a letter which stated that we will purchase all medicines from their own medical shop at Maximum Retail Price. Admission staff was naive and in-experienced but nursing staff was adequate in numbers and was of good quality. They were very prompt and gave required services with smile and speed. I paid the required deposit to the hospital by cheque first time on the day of the admission and second time just after the operation.

Just before the operation was to be commence Orthopaedic Surgeon inquired if we want to put 'steel' plate costing Rs.10,000/- or titanium plate costing Rs.17,000/-. This was a googly. He had not even informed us that cost of plate was not included in his fee for operation! My sister and brother-in-law, both of them doctors - who were present there - had no clue. So, we arbitrarily decided for one of them in absence of much information. We wish we had known about this earlier and could have taken an informed decision.

Operation went on well. Then after two days my mother was found fit to be discharged from the hospital. I had done some rough calculations of all expenses and made cash withdrawal from the bank with some extra amount. And we were presented with the rough bill. It turned out to be much higher than my rough calculations. So, upon getting detailed break-up of various items I learnt that they had included following items which I was unaware:

a. Doctor's visit fees for 5 visits at Rs.1,000/- each. One involved short walk with a walker, second involved dressing, other 3 just to inquire if everything was fine.

b. Handling fee charged by hospital at 10% of the cost of the plate that was fixed during the operation.

c. Cost of monitoring equipment used by the Surgeon during the operation was charged extra. We were not informed about its charge earlier.

d. Service Charges at 5% of the total hospital bill including cost of plate and consumables used during the operation.

Upon inquiry I learnt from my insurance agent that Service Charges would not be reimbursed by the insurance company unless proper description of service is given in writing. Upon inquiry I was asked to meet senior administrative staff about details of Service charge. Accounts department had only one person on duty; and she had no clue about description or rationale of service charge; but she knew that insurance company don't pay Service Charge to the patients.

After few days I called up and inquired about it with a senior person (Director - Medical). He said they charge only 5% against 10 to 12% charged by many other hospitals. He explained that it is towards nursing and other services rendered by the hospital to the patient. I requested him to give this explanation about Service charge in writing so that I can check with insurance company for reimbursement of the same. Also, I asked him if is fair to levy this charge on the Doctor's Operation and Visit fees - as I had never factored the same - while agreeing on Doctors fees. Also, I suggested to him that hospital should display notice about this at few prominent places. He promised to look in to it and get back in 2-3 days.

Any way, I paid the balance amount by Credit Card. And brought my mother back home. Now, she is recovering and will take about 1 month with walker; and two more month to get back to normal health.

Summary:
Have medical insurance cover with adequate financial limit. When there is a need to go for hospitalization for a medical treatment be sure of following charges while deciding on hospital and doctor's fees:

1. Surgeon's fee including consultation fee, operation fee, cost of post operative treatment like dressing, physio therapy etc. Ask cost of Implants (if any) for various options available.

2. Fees for Anesthesiologist. Typically it is 20% of the surgeon's operation fee.

3. If patient is aged i.e., above 60 years then Physician's medical medical fitness certificate along with various tests like Blood Sugar, X-Ray, Cardiogram etc. will be there.

4. Hospitalization fees e.g., Room Charges, Operation Theater charges, Cost of monitoring equipments, Cost of Implants with handling fee, Cost of various medical tests, Cost of medicines, Service charges on entire amount (typically 5 to 12%).

5. Cost of Ambulance including wheel chair and other equipments.

If you have medical insurance then cost of room per day is typically 1% of the insurance cover. Try to select a room around this amount. If you decide to go for a higher price room then keep in mind that most of the costs (medical tests, doctor's fees etc.) will go up proportionately. Also, if you are not careful you may end up calling dietitian advising you what to eat during and after operation; with accompanying consultation fee bill.

Sleeping dog guarding Ghatkopar Post Office

2010-10-13T17:58:00.000+05:30

Two weeks back I visited Ghatkopar West Post office in the morning early hours for some work. And I noticed an interesting sight of a sleeping dog on the first floor of the post office.

I'm sure dog's service (if any) are free of charge.

Always Green traffic light

2010-10-13T17:50:00.000+05:30

Currently a new Metro line is being constructed between Ghatkopar and Andheri. Due to this new development - at a main junction of Ghatkopar Station Road and LBS Road - near Sarvoday Hospital Junction - the traffic signal has become almost non-functional. This is because road going towards Ghatkopar Stations on west side is completely closed.

On this junction - the traffic signal has been in such a state of neglect that it has developed green cover completely. See the picture below. Please note that traffic lights still function i.e, they turn Red to Amber to Green and vice versa but one can hardly notice. Enjoy 'Always Green Traffic Signal' of Mumbai.

How to detect tempering of a Milk Pouch

2010-08-21T15:30:00.002+05:30

Second time in last 1 year, my wife suspected that milk supplied to us was not same as regular milk. It is easy for us to find out because we regularly remove cream from the milk and make ghee (butter). In fact, such home made ghee meets our ghee requirement and we never purchase ghee from outside. So, the reduction in quantity of cream is a direct indication of mixing of water in the milk.

Whenever she complained it our supplier, he merely said that I'm not aware - I'm just purchasing it from abc (whom we know for many years). We did not bother to cross check with abc because we don't have his contact number and he is living little far away from our place.

But one of our neighbour suggested that we purchase it from another supplier. And this is what we learnt. Here is a picture of Milk Pouch that is intact i.e., unopened before delivery to us.

Unopened Milk Pouch

Here is a picture of opened and sealed Milk Pouch. (Note: Click on the Picture to expand the view.)

Milk Pouch is opened and sealed on left hand side

So, little visual inspection is enough to find out if your supplier is mixing water in Milk Pouch or not. It is difficult to believe that this happened in spite of severe warning given to same person about 6 months back when we had suspected same mischief. And he had started supplying regular milk. But after 6 months - same mischief. What's way out? Keep on changing suppliers?

Saw movie - Pipli [Live]

2010-08-18T16:36:00.003+05:30

We had gone with great expectation but returned empty hearted. What a shame, Amir Khan has brought to himself.

We are seeing this drama played by hollow politicians and media every day. What's novel about it? Tell me what was it about? About farmers and their life? No, it was about how irresponsible politicians and media are. We know it very well perhaps better than Amir has depicted in his film.

What a botch up of a potentially powerful subject of farmers. With little ingenuity and good research it has potential to make a Oscar winner. Amir Khan did not hit the bull's eye. In fact, he missed it by a kilometre.

Possibly he wanted to make a low budget film with good ROI. Best of luck in his new money making business.

The Chief Belief Officer says "Within infinite myths lies eternal truth.."

2010-08-07T14:53:00.001+05:30

Very nicely depicting the way occidental and oriental people think and behave.

Leh Ladakh Tour

2010-05-15T18:15:00.003+05:30

End of April, my son pointed out an advertisement in a local news paper saying visit Leh Ladakh for 4 nights / 5 days at Rs.22,000/- per person including Air Fare; and get family discount of Rs.2,000/-. Offer looked fabulous.

I thought there must a catch. Any way, I visited Make My Trip website and filled in a web inquiry form. Next day I got a call from Ahmedabad and lady on teh other end said - seats are limited. I asked for available dates and checked on date in the first week of May. Paid advance booking amount of Rs.3,000/- per person through credit card using IVR (Interactive Voice Response). Of course, I got few nervous moments because my usual Credit Card could not be used - since it was expiring by April and new card could be used because it would become active only in May! So, I tried 2 other cards and both would not go beyond the credit card number. Lady on the other end volunteered to enter the credit card number but again system would not accept valid up date or CVV. So, I called up one bank and learnt that wrong CVV was entered. That's impossible - so I concluded that May My Trip's IVR system had some noise or problem or they were up to some trick! Any way after few attempts I could manage to make payment through credit card.

Immediately I got an email giving booking number. I was told that I should make balance payment in 3-4 days. Then I just looked around to find out how reliable make-my-trip people are. To my horror I found that on one popular web site (GupShup) 80% people had written negative feedback about them. So, I spent some time studying the details and I was relieved to note that most were dissatisfied with service they received for air tickets. Only one feedback was there for their tours saying - time management was poor and restaurants were not good. So, I should give them benefit of doubt because they could be better at tours.

So, I paid them the balance amount through Credit card - which had failed in CVV verification earlier - after having some trouble - as usual by now.

On the appointed day we all started for Delhi. Reached airport after braving the incredible traffic jam on Western Express highway. I had already done the web check-in for all 9 of us so that we could get some extra points from the airline. Before doing the same I had called up MMT to find out if I should do web check-in with 5 people travelling with us on the same booking number. They were clue less and advised me not to do it. I asked for their phone number but they refused. So, I went ahead and did the web check-in for all - as group booking tickets don't allow individual web check-ins. Of course, before taking this step I made several calls to Kingfisher's group booking people. But to put it in nut-shell experience was bad - first they were not picking up calls - when picked up found number had changed - again did not pick up - when picked up said I should call up branch group booking as they were handling national group booking queries - branch people said it's not in their hand to issue separate booking number for a part of a group - what a waste of time!!

Any way, we boarded the aircraft 2 hours later because incoming flight was delayed. We reached Delhi around 12.30 am. After coming out of airport after about 5 min of search we found the MMT representative. He was there with 3 cars. By the time we reached nearby hotel (Lohmod) it was 1.30 am. We quickly filled in Hotel Register, gave driving license for photocopy, collected room key, reached the room. It was 2.15 am. My son's complained that TV is not working! I found that his rooms intercom phone was not working. We complained but nothing happened. We did not care and tried to sleep for 2 hours in a noisy AC environment - as we had to catch early morning flight of 6 am. We had tea and biscuits. Found there were only 2 cars for 9 of us. All left except me and my wife with 2 bags in hand. Fortunately 3rd car came after 10 min and we could catch the flight.

At airport there was a chaotic long queue. But our web check-in came to our rescue. We got out boarding passes out of turn and quickly ran through the security check and just reached in time to catch the flight. We reached Leh after a comfortable flight with a light break fast.

Leh is a small town at a height of 3,500 meters with hardly any tourists - even in peak season! One needs to take rest for 24 hours (at least) before one ventures out - even for a walk! Oxygen is just 15% in Air compared to 21% at Sea level. So, one's system requires 24 hours to get used to it. Also, it is recommended to take 1 tablet of Dyamox one day before and one on arrival. But, we were not told by MMT! This happened in spite of my calling them and specifically asking them about travel trips, pre-cautions etc. Even their website has an article on acclimatisation but not a word about this medicine!

And, one of our fellow traveller - who gave us this information and tablets also - said he learnt about it from an email sent to him by MMT. Clearly MMT does not have well trained staff to take care of tours.

After taking one tablet, after about 5 or 6 hours, I started experiencing vibrations on my face - particularly in cheek and forehead area. It vanished after a night's sleep. It was like a small helicopter running inside my head! It was definitely due to the tablet because nothing happened for next 2 days. And I took 1 tablet on 4th day and experience repeated. One doctor said may be I needed potassium and should take coconut water. But we got this advice around 8 pm and we could not find any open shops - since all shops close around 7 pm.

We heard that people who were to come in the next day missed their flight at Delhi. Due to some problem their booking was lost and had to stay in Delhi for 1 more day and take flight the next day. Saving grace was that MMT arranged a free tour to Taj Mahal (Agra) for them and they arrived one day late.

Leh does not have any greenery. It's largest district of India - with 55,000 sq.km area and population of 2 lakhs! All hotels except one (Grand Dragon) close down after 4 months of peak season! It's a dreary desert land with un-predictable weather with heavy winds. I felts Wind farms can be set-up here to provide electricity to entire India - due to its vast expanse.

Pangong lake was too good but we could spend only 30 min - as it takes 5 hours to reach there and 5 hours to return and road condition is not good. Its beauty simply can't be described. It's a 130 km long and 5 km wide salt water lake with no fish inside. It completely freezes in winter. Around 60% of its area is owned by China. Boating is not allowed. Some locals claim to have seen Chinese submarine few year's back in the lake! It's that deep!

On last day we had come back just before reaching the highest motorable road.

More later.

Picture Perfect Photo

Monastry

Future Buddha - Maitreya

Enjoying Snow fall at 15,000 ft

How can IT dept collect TDS when they can't give credit for the same to us?

2010-04-29T13:18:00.006+05:30

Today we received Intimation u/s 143(1) for my wife from Income tax department for the year ended on 31-3-2008. Major source of her Income is salary and interest from deposits.

To our horror we noticed that although we had paid full tax (Advance tax, TDS deductions and Self Assessment tax) - she was served notice for payment for Income tax along with interest!!!

The delivery staff told me - "Do not worry, sir. There have been some doubts about TDS claims and as a precautionary measure department has not given credit of TDS. Ask your CA (Chartered Accountant) and show all original TDS certificates and you will get the correct order."

Upon simple inspection of the Assessment Order we noticed that except for the Returned Income figure none of the figures on the Assessment Order matched with the filed Return. Upon a short telephonic discussion with CA, we were advised to approach the Income Tax department directly - as there are too many such cases and they are unable to cope up!

Wonderful. Isn't it? Would any one care to join the party?

As far as TDS is concerned we poor citizens have no say. At the end of the year we collect the TDS certificate from the deductor; and claim credit while filing the Return. And we expect that it will go smoothly because TDS information is available online on Internet - for any one to see and check. But in India, it does not work that way.

What's the way out? Meet the CA or some tax expert personally, decipher every word written on the Assessment Order, write a letter to the Assessment Officer, submit it to the Assessing Officer - show original TDS certificates; and wait for the revised assessment order!

How a salaried class person is expected to do all this? Who will compensate citizens for all this un-necessary extra work?

I have never managed to understand rationale behind Tax Deducted at Source - particularly when we are regularly paying Income tax every year. If Government is not able to give credit for the collected TDS then it has no moral right to continue with the TDS collection.

I hereby urge every citizens of India to demand abolition of TDS. At least, it should be done for the regular tax payers.

What do you think?

Cost of outsourced work

2010-03-23T14:39:00.004+05:30

For last few years outsourcing work is routinely adopted by companies to reduce costs. Now a days we see various non-core activities like after sales service, salary payments, marketing activities, claim processing, event management, house-keeping, physical security of premises and so on - are routinely handled by outside agencies. While cost reduction may be true in short run - there is a cost that a company pays for outsourcing its activities.

For example, look at the quality of service provided by outsourced agencies for After Sales Service. Is there any credible proof that outsourced agencies can offer to its customers that their customer's are served well and are happy with their service? I doubt.

Take this instance of a leading software product vendor who routinely outsources its Dealer Incentive scheme management to third parties. Yesterday we learnt about a dealer scheme from this vendor's newsletter and clicked on the link to register for the same. And we got a Google advisory saying:

Site is listed as suspicious - visiting this web site may harm your computer.
Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 1 time(s) over the past 90 days.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 2 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 2 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2010-03-13, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 2010-03-13.
Malicious software is hosted on 2 domain(s), including waimaighaiphahxi.in/ , weedshop.org/ .

I brought this to the notice of the Agency who was administering this scheme with copy to Partner Account Manager of the software vendor. In about 1 hour I got a telephone call from the Agency - a girl told me not worry - as we were pre-registered for the scheme!! When I asked her about Free Malware given out to the dealers upon registration - she feigned ignorance and said she will check up. There is no response from software vendor yet.

Few days back I had written to the same vendor's Senior Manager asking him if any quality checks are in place to ensure that all dealers are informed about the "schemes" launched by them and agency informs and distributes the incentives in time? After a reminder I got a email saying all distributors are advised to include my email id in all their communications to dealers! I asked him why have I not received the Incentive after 10 weeks of scheme closure - I've yet to receive any reply. Of course, I did not ask him about the schemes - which we did not know about - and lost out on incentives in this period of 4 to 5 months.

Take another example, recently we got cheque of more than Rs.1,00,000/- from one of customer through their outsourced agency - a bank - who makes payment to vendors on behalf of this party. Can you believe that this payment was already made to us few months back - as an advance payment after deducting TDS? When we pointed this out to the customer they asked for the cheque back by courier. Not a word of appreciation or complaint! Is this a routine? I believe so. Else how can you explain customer behaviour as noticed by us?

Believe me, this incident is not an isolated incident. We see about 1 or 2 incidents every year like this and return the cheques.

Un-used and expired Sodexo Gift Vouchers have no value?

2010-03-23T13:31:00.002+05:30

Sodexo is a french company allowed to issue pre-paid Gift Vouchers in India. There is a guideline given by Reserve Bank of India giving directions for their operations. It's published in April 2009 under "Issuance and Operation of Pre-paid Payment Instruments in India (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2009".

We had got this Sodexho Gift Vouchers in 2006 from one of the Vendor as an Incentive. We thought we had used it all. But recently - while clearing cupboard - my wife found unused Gift coupons worth Rs.2,600/-. They had expiry date of 31-12-2006.

When I approached Sodexo they said nothing can be done about them as everything has been accounted for so far and accounts are closed.

When I read the RBI directions- it says following:

Issuance and Operation of Pre-paid Payment Instruments in India (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2009

April 27, 2009

9. Validity
9.1 All pre-paid payment instruments issued in the country shall have a minimum validity period of six months from the date of activation/issuance to the holder.

9.2 In the case of non-reloadable pre-paid payment instruments, the transfer of outstanding amount at the expiry of the payment instrument to a new similar payment instrument of the same issuer, purchased by the holder may be permitted.

9.3 The outstanding balance against any payment instrument shall not be forfeited unless the holder is cautioned at least 15 days in advance as regards the expiry of the validity of the payment instrument.

12. Customer Protection Issue
12.1 All pre-paid payment instrument issuers shall disclose all important terms and conditions in clear and simple language (preferably in English, Hindi and the local language) comprehensible to the holders while issuing the instruments. These disclosures shall include:

i) All charges and fees associated with the use of the instrument.

ii) The expiry period and the terms and conditions pertaining to expiration of the instrument.

iii) The customer service telephone numbers and website URL.

12.2 An effective mechanism for redressal of customer complaints shall be put in place by the entity issuing pre-paid payment instruments.

So, I asked them if Sodexo had given 15 days notice to me (as holder) as per direction 9.3 and also inquired about "effective mechanism for redressal of consumer complaint". They had no answer. They noted my contact number and promised to revert. This happened about 4 days back. Before that, I had written an email to the address they have put on the web site in first week of Feb 2010. But, so far, there is no reply to my email.

I feel that such companies - who are authorised to issue pre-paid Payment Instruments i.e., Gift Vouchers must be making a lot of money due to such expired and lost Gift vouchers. But RBI guidelines is not detailed enough to stop such operations. What to do?

Update (21 April 2010): After some telephonic follow-up Sodexo agreed to issue revalidated Gift Vouchers. I've sent the original Gift Vouchers to their Mumbai Office. I should get it in 21 days.

Excessive electricity bills paid for 10 years due to a defective electric meter

2010-03-23T13:20:00.001+05:30

We were suspecting our electric bills to be high - so after several complaints starting from Feb 2009 - meter was taken for testing in Aug 2009 and found to be defective. Meter was found running even when mains supply was switched off. Reliance gave us 20% refund for 5 months starting from Feb 2009 based on Meter test report - which had tested meter for 10%, 20% and 100% load at Unity and 0.5 lag Power Factor. Average Percentage Error of this 6 readings was 20%.

We went to Grievance Forum - they gave order for 20% refund for additional 3 months - as per MERC regulation. But, our current (new) meter reading shows reduction in consumption of units by 61% compared to old meter. This is in spite of the fact that consumption pattern has remained unchanged - before and after the meter change.

So, we're thinking of approaching Ombudsman for the same. But problem is that of MERC regulation - which states following (relevent provisions are reproduced below):

-------------
MAHARASHTRA ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Electricity Supply Code and Other Conditions of Supply) Regulations, 2005

15.4 Billing in the Event of Defective Meters
15.4.1 Subject to the provisions of Part XII and Part XIV of the Act, in case of a defective meter, the amount of the consumer’s bill shall be adjusted, for a maximum period of three months prior to the month in which the dispute has arisen, in accordance with the results of the test taken subject to furnishing the test report of the meter alongwith the assessed bill.:

Provided that, in case of broken or damaged meter seal, the meter shall be tested for defectiveness or tampering. In case of defective meter, the assessment shall be carried out as per clause 15.4.1 above and, in case of tampering as per Section 126 or Section 135 of the Act, depending on the circumstances of each case.

Provided further that, in case the meter has stopped recording, the consumer will be billed for the period for which the meter has stopped recording, up to a maximum period of three months, based on the average metered consumption for twelve months immediately preceding the three months prior to the month in which the billing is contemplated.
-----------

I feel that meter was running fast since May 1999 - when we had shifted over from Single Phase to Three Phase supply.

So, problem we are wondering is from where and how to get refund for a fast running meter for almost 10 years? Any sugestions?

More on "Ubuntu on Desktop" experiment

2010-01-13T16:30:00.005+05:30

After reasonable success with the usage of Ubuntu 9.10 on my desktop - for about 2 weeks, I gathered courage to replace PCQuest Linux 2005 with Ubuntu 9.10 on one more PC.

It is a P-IV 2.4 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB harddisk, Intel 845GSVR motherboard and DVD writer. The installation would start fine but would freeze after 3-4 minutes of disk activity. It won't even reach hard-disk partitioning stage. After many attempts, installation worked in Safe Mode. But, after that no matter I did, I just could not make it work in better resolution than 640x480. Installed latest updates worth about 110 MB. No luck. Installed earlier Intel 2.4 graphics drivers. No luck. Tried even manually configuring 'Monitor' section of xorg.conf file. No luck. Gave up after lot of trial and error.

Took out Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop CD from the cup board and put it in the DVD drive. It installed without any problem with full resolution. But, it would just freeze after entering user name password. Found solutions on a blog on the issue, got around the 'compiz' problem by removing this special effect from the desktop appearance. Ever since it's been working like a breeze.

Installed latest updates about 210 MB!!! Ubuntu Software centre even says Ubuntu 9.04 is available. What about 9.10? May be it's not stable release yet!

It has Open Office 2.4. Tried to get version 4.1 but menu system does not have any option to upgrade, as mentioned in the online help. 'Add remove' feature allows just removal of Open Office 2.4. Do I have to uninstall and then re-install? Not sure.

Samba network shares on the Nitix Server works without any problem. What about printing on NetWare printers? Not tried yet. It's working well on other PC running Ubuntu 9.10 with some effort. Of course, it was not printing 2 days back. The print job would just not get released to the Novell NetWare print queue and insist on waiting for 5 minutes. Why? No idea. Even when I manually released it, the print job would again would go in 'wait' for 5 minutes. I gave up then. But it printed properly today. May be it required a 'shut-down' like our good old friend. Well, surely with this feature, Ubuntu will make it in the big league since it has already 'shut-down' before it works mentality some-where in it's spinal cord.

Few things that required lot of search and work and may be it's working now on Ubuntu 9.10 - persistent connection to Samba Network shares. Before this I had to connect to it manually. After manually editing few conf files it's working. But it's far from perfect. I'm unable to get the Samba Network shares on the Nautilus File browser. For example, say I'm in gmail in FireFox and composing an email and want to attach a file on the Samba Network share. I'm just not able to do it directly. I've to copy the file to the local drive and then only able to attach it.

Also, I notice that I'm unable to move e-mail messages in Domino Web Access client 7.0 to domino mail folders. Even I'm unable to attach file attachments or save message to folder while sending mails.

So, I searched if any Notes is available natively for Linux. I found that it is available for Debian but it will not work on Ubuntu 9.10. Bad luck. I found that it works on Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04 but not on 9.10. In fact, because of this reason alone I decided to quit Ubuntu 9.10 on other PC with low resolution problem and installed 8.10. Of course, I've yet not tried Notes client installation because I'm not sure where to get the Notes Client for Linux. Nitix (now Lotus Foundations) does not offer Linux client on the download site. IBM site offers only 90 day eval copy. Too bad, I've licensed copy of Domino running on Nitix (LFS 1.1) but I'm unable to get Notes Client for Linux (debian). That's about how well IBM has got Nitix in to it's fold!!

Few thoughts on Ubuntu as a desktop OS. Ubuntu will put fear of God in to Microsoft. Well this quote is adopted from a PC Magazine article that I had read when it had reviewed newly released Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on Windows. The title was 'Excel will put fear of God in to Lotus 1-2-3'. Well, you know how the situation is now? Young ones ask what is Lotus 1-2-3? They don't even know about existence of Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet!!!

There was a time when Lotus 1-2-3 was a un-disputed king of spread-sheets in the DOS world. In fact, I'm unable to even recollect name of un-disputed king of Word Processor in DOS days; and even for few years in Windows era. Such is our IT technology world. Software, Technology, Ideas and People become obsolete very fast in today's world.

So, Microsoft (actually, Windows) better watch out - now Ubuntu is on the scene - alive and kicking.

Well, more on Ubuntu later.

Magnetic north pole is shifting eastwards 40 miles a year

2010-01-08T16:09:00.001+05:30

Today I read a news in Mumbai Samachar (Gujarati daily) saying Mangetic North Pole is rapidly advancing eastwards - towards Russia - at about 40 miles (68 kms) a year. Interesting!

Then I came across a 24 Dec 2009 daily news in National Geographic, which is the source of this news item. The article says following:

A rapidly shifting magnetic pole means that magnetic-field maps need to be updated more often to allow compass users to make the crucial adjustment from magnetic north to true North.

Wandering Pole

Geologists think Earth has a magnetic field because the core is made up of a solid iron center surrounded by rapidly spinning liquid metal. This creates a "dynamo" that drives our magnetic field.

(Get more facts about Earth's insides.)

Scientists had long suspected that, since the molten core is constantly moving, changes in its magnetism might be affecting the surface location of magnetic north.

It's predicted that magnetic north and south poles will be reversed, but not in near future. Well, process of magnetic pole reversal has accelerated now.

Defective product replacement experience within warranty period

2010-01-06T18:03:00.000+05:30

Generally speaking, in India, customer is at a receiving end while asking for replacement for a defective product within warranty period. I shall narrate my experience, one bad and other slightly good.

It's a experience most people in India would agree and say it's not new - it's common. Any way, draw your own conclusions.

We had purchased Creative's EP-630 Ear-phone from a dealer in Lamington Road at about Rs.850/-. After few months, it became defective. When we contacted dealer, he said warranty is only for 2 months. I pointed out to him that on Creative's web site, it's written as 1 year. He said we don't get replacement from the distributor. I contact distributor - Cyberroam. They said warranty is for 6 months from the date of manufacture. When I saw the date on the box, 6 month had just got over. I pointed out to them that Creative's warranty is for 1 year from date of purchase but they refused to acknowledge same saying it's only for 6 months from the date of manufacturing.

So, I wrote to Creative, Singapore. First they confirmed that warranty is 12 month from the date of purchase. They asked me to contact dealer/distributor. Then I convinced them that they are unwilling to do anything. So, they shipped replacement piece, EP-830 (which was one level higher and slightly costlier) by ordinary post. After waiting for 6 weeks, I informed them that it has not reached. So, they shipped second piece, again by ordinary post, in spite of my telling them to send by other means because their replacement policy did not allow shipment by courier. Again after waiting for about 5 weeks, I wrote to them to give details of shipment. They sent it to me and I registered complaint with Indian Post and sent them details of the same. Also, I advised them to give complaint at Singapore.

After that they sent me third piece, but this time by FedEx courier (priority) and sent me the shipment number. I got it on the 3rd or 4th day without any problem. Of course, it was not in the usual box packing. Earphone was kept inside a simple plastic bag inside an envelope.

Other replacement is about Transcend DDR RAM - 256 MB. We had purchased it at about Rs.2,500/- a piece. At the time of purchase dealer said it carried 3 year warranty. After about 3.5 year, PC started giving problem i.e., it would arbitrarily shut down or hang. After lot of trial and error, we found that it was one of the two 256 MB RAM that was problematic. Upon close inspection, we noticed that small portion of it's leg (that goes inside the PCI slot) had a defect. When we contacted the dealer, he said DDR rams are not available and warranty is also over.

So, I checked the Transcend's website and entered all details. Upon checking warranty details, I found that is carried life time warranty. So, I contacted Transcend for warranty replacement. They confirmed by return mail that my RAM had life time warranty and I should contact distributors. They sent me details of their distributors and I contacted all of them one by one, not knowing from whom the dealer who supplied to me had bought from. Two distributors, who were in Mumbai, when I sent the RAM to them, said they had not sold it. When I asked them details of the Transcend Warranty Replacement Centre, one said there is no one, we only give replacement for units we have sold. Other said there is one in Tardeo A/c Market but did not have any more details.

So, I wrote about this to Transcend, Taiwan. After about 2 weeks delay they sent name and address of Accel Frontline's warranty replacement centre. I sent them the defective RAM, they gave receipt and said contact in 1 week. After 1 week they said replacement is ready, send some one. When we collected it back, we found it was just returned as it is! When we contacted them, they said it was out of warranty, so it was returned. When I wrote about this to Transcend, some one called up from Chennai, saying please send it again because there was a mistake in number entered.

After initially insisting on their collecting the defective item from me, which did not do in spite of my writing to all concerned people and talking to them, I sent it back. They have online system of checking the status. For about 2 weeks, it kept on saying 'checking warranty'. After that it showed 'out of warranty'!!! When we told them the whole history and also told them that we had given proof to them from Transcend that it was under life-time warranty. Then they said, they are waiting for replacement to come. After few days, we noticed that Accel Frontline's website did not have any references to 'Transcend'!!! When we called them on phone they said the reference number had changed and we should contact them after some time. That's last we heard from them. It's been almost 2 months. We have written few mails to Transcend, some of which they forward to Accel but no response from Accel Frontline.

This is the deal customer gets in India for warranty replacement.

Started New Year with Ubuntu (what is that?)

2010-01-04T17:18:00.002+05:30

In past, I tried to switch over my desktop to Linux number of times. I tried SLED 10 (Suse Linux Desktop 10), Fedora 8, PCQuest Linux 2005 and finally Ubuntu 9.10.

But, before gathering courage to try out Ubuntu, it was my tryst with Nitix 5.0, which gave me courage and confidence. About 1 year back; I was seriously looking for replacement for Novell NetWare 4.2; which has been going on non-stop for last 10 years; and earlier versions of NetWare (2.2 and 3.2) for previous 8 year or so. Actually, it will go on for another 25 years, if the server on which it is running won't fail. Even, the server (HP E-45, PII 300 Mhz, 64 MB RAM, 4 GB SCSI hard disk) is running for last 11 years with only component failed being 4 GB Tape Drive. I suppose it would run for another 5 years or so. But our accounting software (Work Horse) has outlived it's useful life. So, last year we switched over to Tally ERP 9.2 (finally).

At that time, we signed up with Nitix as their reseller by purchasing Not For Resale copy of Nitix Blue (Nitix - proprietary Linux with Lotus Domino 7) 5 user. We bought a brand new HP ML-110 (Xeon 1065 Server with 1 GB RAM and 2 x 160 GB hard disks, 1 DVD ROM) for the same; at an unbelievably low price. It got installed in 30 min but learning this new animal (Server OS) took us about 1 year. Was it worth? Yes, it was worth it at the end.

In this one year, we migrated e-mails in cc:Mail r8 stored on NetWare 4.2 to NitixBlue (Domino 7) via Notes 5.0. It was daunting work but it worked with few problems. Then we shifted data from NetWare to Nitix's Samba server. Configured MTNL's Triband connection with Nitix Server. Got Firewall and VPN working. So, I could access my office emails even from Home and anywhere from the world through Internet. Backup became automatic because Nitix's backup automatically backs up all files on the first hard-disk to the 2nd hard-disk automatically. It take full backup once a week at 11 O clock on Sunday night. And incremental backup every 1 hour (default settings - which can be changed).

In this one year, Nitix got bought over by IBM. IBM calls it Lotus Foundations Start. So, we upgraded NitixBlue 1.1 (Nitix 5.3) to Lotus Foundations Start 1.0 (Domino 8.0) and 1.1 (Domino 8.5). Transition was smooth technically. But, lot of things changed when IBM took over. First, IBM would not recognize our NFR (Not For Resale) copy. At the time of renewal, they asked us to purchase renewal subscription at regular price (like a normal customer). But partner web site said we could get free subscription renewal and we should get in touch with IBM Manager. IBM Manager said free renewal was only for US and CANADA resellers!!! Why? May be color of their blood is 'blue'!

What's good part? Product is working well, without the usual dose of updates (available only for valid subscriptions). It's like NetWare 4.12. Rock Solid. It would work even when main hard-disk would fail; because backup drive would automatically switch over and start working as first hard disk.

OK. That's long and short of our experience with proprietary Linux on the Server. Having got confidence of mastering a linux animal; I ventured to try Ubuntu 9.10. It came with the Digit CD (Dec 2009). Made Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop boot disk and installed on a brand new HP ML-115 Server (AMD Quad-Core with 1GB RAM and 160 GB hard disk). Installed in 15 minutes. It recognized everything correctly. Worked like a charm. Then installed Win 7 RC on another partition. It also installed and worked flaw-lessly. I gave that PC to my son for his use at the engineering college. When he learnt that I had installed Ubuntu he grumbled. I booted the PC in Ubuntu and he could not find out that it was not Windows 7. He keep saying it does not support 'EXE' files. But when he saw number of programs meant for engineering students, he was shocked. He took the PC to his hostel with both OS on it.

So, I ventured to install Ubuntu 9.10 on another PC (P-IV 2.4 GHz, 768 MB RAM, 80 GB hard-disk with DVD Writer). It installed in 20 min. Recognized even 20" LCD Wide Monitor (AOC) and automatically sensed 1600x900 resolution and started working. Have you seen this happening on a Windows PC? I doubt. I bet.

I decided to dump good old friend in favour of new found friend Ubuntu. In African language Ubuntu means 'Humanity to others'. So, with Ubuntu we don't win but we live in peace with others. Isn't it great?

Saw '3 Idiots' movie

2010-01-04T16:36:00.001+05:30

Last week saw '3 Idiots'. Theater was packed. Very entertaining. Too good. Re-lived many moments of my stay at IIT Bombay. Movie has some really good messages like 'we go to college for learning and not for grades'. 'Enjoy your work, money will be incidental then.' etc.

People just love the movie. If I were to give title to this movie, I would say, "Ajab Dil Ki Gajab Kahani'. It was all about 'heart' ruling over 'head'. Through and Through it was same thing.

But, wait, people don't do this in their real life. In real life, it's almost always head ruling the heart. Isn't it? Then why people love this movie? Because here they see what should be. Vicariously they feel relieved for their inability to allow 'heart' over their 'head'. They feel nice and feel money well spent because it relieves them of the guilt.

In fact, I almost agreed with one critic who said "it's a time-pass". In other words, feel nice and get back to your usual way.

Idea to conserve water discharged from Flush Tanks

2010-01-04T11:14:00.010+05:30

This year there has been a threat of water scarcity looming over the city of Mumbai. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) is seriously looking at ways and means of conserving water. Given below is my idea which could save tons of water, if implemented.

Recent flush tanks are coming with 2 knobs - one for half discharge and other for full discharge. But, even half discharge knob releases substantial volume of water. I learn from few minutes of Internet search that at least 10 to 15 liter of water is discharged with each press of the knob.

Yesterday I got a simple but good idea to reduce volume of discharge from Flush Tanks. Implementation is easy and would easily conserve about 2 liters of water per discharge.

You will require:
1. A plastic bag which can hold say 1 or 2 liter of water. Ordinary Milk bag or small size plastic carry bag would do.

2. String (Plastic, preferably) 6 to 8 inch long

Step-1:
Take a plastic bag. Fill it with water. Tie it up with the string at the top. Ensure that water does not leak after tying it up.

Step-2:
Open the lid of the flush tank. In most cases, it should be easy. Now, insert the filled plastic bag inside the flush tank, in the empty space. Close the lid.

If tank size permits, you may insert more than one filled plastic bags.

Note: In flush tanks with two knobs, you may have to lift the knob, locate a plastic screw. Open it up using a screw-driver. Pull out the knob, plastic screw assembly. Lift the lid.

It's done. Now, every time you flush, discharge would be reduced to the extent of size of the filled plastic bag.

I've already implemented the idea in all the flush tanks of my house. Here is a video.
How to reduce volume of flush water discharge video

Let me know, if you like the idea. Also, let me know if you have suggestions for improvement.

Slow, steady and sure death of the Packaged Software Industry in India

2009-11-18T10:43:00.022+05:30

It takes Government of India to create a huge great mess - which even God can not create with all powers to His command. Why don't for a while, it keep its hands off on matters it does not understand well? I'm referring to IT software and its delivery models. If they don't understand it, helping hand is extended to them from ISODA (Infotech Software Dealers Association - http://www.isoda.in/), but who wants to acknowledge that a mess is created; and clarity is due to the citizens of India?

Let me put it in plain terms. Government of India (that includes bureaucrats and politicians, all together) is out there to kill the proverbial Golden Goose. They have found the proverbial whipping boy in Indian Software Industry. Whether it's Income tax department, Customs/Excise/Service tax department, State Government's Commercial Tax (VAT) departments or even local Municipal Corporations - it's all same. They are utterly clueless about how to tax (in other words, get their cut) from the neo rich Software Industry. They don't understand it, they don't want to understand it; and they are doing a pretty ugly job. And people are fad up of them.

Let them understand, if at all they want to understand, that due to their acts prices of packaged software have gone up by 30% to 40% compared to what they were in May 2008. And people have reduced purchase of packaged software by more than 40% since then. One reason is they can't afford to pay more for (already) costly packaged software. Another things is that they are willing to take risk associated with piracy. Simply because friendly neighbourhood computer supplier OR systems integrator OR facilities management contractor is ever ready to oblige him.

And, if one is in self service mode; and is willing to do little research on Internet, hundreds of sites are available to supply free download of software. Not to forget that they don't forget to send virus, malware and trojans free of charge to you along with the software download to keep their operations going! Thousands of sites are there offering cracks to bypass vendor's activations. Hundreds of well written articles, videos and tutorials are there telling users how to use the latest and best software products free of charge without worrying about vendor's detection and activation.

Can Government do anything to stop this? I'm afraid, even with their best intention, vast machinery and power they can't stop it. Industry is trying its bit but they are also on the wrong track. First they have get their pricing, licensing and distribution model right. But, unfortunate part is that 'god fathers' of software industry are sitting overseas in comfortable high rise offices, with very little knowledge of ground realities in India.

Only way to stop this slow and sure death of software industry is to bring back sensibility and become reasonable. People are there to pay taxes and high prices, but don't corner them. They are ready to purchase packaged software products provided tax rates are reasonable, laws are clear; and they are not threatened by the vendor to purchase the packaged software. No body like ambiguity and threats - least of all - a common man.

Don't think that with GST (Goods and Services Tax) this confusion will be laid to rest. Sorry. I don't agree because first of all there is no clarity whether packaged software is a goods or service. And in GST there are going to different rates of tax for Goods and Services. If 'packaged software' continues to be both goods and a service then even GST won't able to help it.

In Income tax, there is even a bigger problem. Income tax department wants to tax income from sale of software products saying it is a 'royalty' income; and not a business income. Why? Simply because business income of a overseas supplier is not taxable in India. For example, when HP from USA/Singapore sells computer hardware to a distributor in India, his income is taxed in USA/Singapore and NOT in India.

But as per prevailing laws of India, 'royalty' payment made to overseas supplier is taxable in India. Income tax law is extremely complex and confusing with respect on 'royalty' income. So, Income tax department says that payment made to overseas supplier towards purchase of IT software is a 'royalty'. So, the supplier has to pay tax on the same in India. Income tax department wants its pound of flesh from the hapless software industry. You will say, so what's issue? That means importer is required to pay 'withholding tax' to Income tax department when a software product is purchased from the overseas markets, even when purchased through Internet.

What happens when the overseas supplier refuses to pay 'withholding tax' to the purchaser? And what happens when the payment is made through credit card to the overseas supplier? Of course, person who has purchased it pays the tax from his own pocket, a tax that supplier should have paid. Isn't it ridiculous? But, it's true.

There are simply too many factors working to ensure slow, steady and sure death of the packaged software industry in India. Let me try to list them here below, not in any particular order.

1. High prices of packaged software products
2. Ever changing and unclear channel /distribution policies of Vendors
3. Attitude of distributors towards channel partners
4. Unreasonably high taxation

a. 10 - 20% Withholding tax on import payment - depending upon country of origin
b. 8% CVD on Media
c. 10% Service tax on 'Right to Use' portion of software at the time of import
d. 10% Service tax on Resale
e. 4% VAT on Resale
f. 3 - 5.5% Octroi / Entry tax on Resale
g. 10% TDS on payment from the supplier
h. 10% Service tax and 10% TDS on Incentives, Rebates and Overriding Commissions

5. Widely fluctuating Indian Rupee to US Dollar Exchange rate
6. Reluctance of overseas suppliers to pay withholding tax; particularly on Internet
7. Easiness of Piracy due to easy availability of resources
8. Attitude of people i.e., we will manage, when it comes
9. Channel partners who are happy to be in transaction mode with very low margins and high risk - from Government due to taxation compliance, vendors due to changing channel policies
10. Poor unity and low communication and collaboration among channel partners
11. Vendor's direct contact and control on the customers
12. Direct selling by the distributors to the end users

What's 13th factor?

Online photo print service in India

2009-09-01T16:04:00.006+05:30

In USA and many other countries, online photo print services are quite an established business. But, recently I discovered a good quality service provider based out of Mumbai, India.

When I saw their mailer (e-mail) they said they would give 10 No.s 4x6 prints free. Yes, you read it correct - FREE!! I checked that they were based out of Mumbai and decided not to make any payment to them by credit card. They had option to pay cash at one shop located quite close to my office.

So, I went ahead and uploaded 10 best photos of my Kashmir tour and ordered the prints. They charged Rs.25/- plus tax as delivery charges. They sent a number through SMS to my mobile phone; went to the shop, made the cash payment and they issued a receipt of Rs.28/- or so. And within seconds I got SMS saying money was received and prints would be delivered in few days.

It did come - as promised to my place. My first and second impression about this service (http://www.zoomin.com/) is too good.

Today I got an offer saying if I order 1 photo mug, I get second mug free. I ordered 4 mugs with 4 Kashmir photos and fitting caption. All customised. This time I decided to pay through Credit card. This site has Thwate SSL certificate and after accepting my credit card details over a secure SSL connection; transferred control to my bank's website for another verification, and control came back to www.zoomin.com after verification. So, that's how the payment part got over without any problem.

Usability of website is too good to be from India. They allow unlimited photo uploads. You can create albums for private and public use. You can order prints not only on paper but on mugs, t-shirts, calenders etc. etc.

Kashmir tour

2009-06-24T19:02:00.007+05:30

After many posts letting out my steam, I'm posting beautiful pictures of Kashmir valley.

It's a long journey from Mumbai, when you travel by train and road. But it is worth every meter you have travelled. It's truly a heaven on earth.

I liked the people there. They want peace and stability as much as rest of the world. Let's pray that peace and tranquility will prevail in this part of the world.

Kashmiri family traveling in Daal lake

Water skiing in Daal lake

Mughal Garden in Srinagar

River in Sonmarg

Mountains in Sonmarg

Houseboats in Nageena Lake with reflection in water

Beautiful view in Gulmarg

View of hotels in Gulmarg

View of mountains in Pahelgam

River in Pahelgam

Pictures taken with Kodak 8 MP camera with 3x Optical Zoom.

Why pay Service Tax on Packaged Software - to be on the safer side?

2008-11-20T11:29:00.012+05:30

In India, the taxation and legal system is very complicated, extremely slow and quite expensive in terms of money and time.

So, whenever there is an ambiguity on the applicability of a particular tax or law - usual advise given by Tax Consultants is - "we feel this - this and this ... - but to be on safer side pay tax" i.e., collect from the customer and pay to the government. After all - it's the poor customer who pays!!!

And bigger the company seeking the advice - bigger is the consultant i.e., all MNC's seek advice from one of the big four management consultants. Never mind what their track record is. We have seen fate of number of global consulting organizations and their customers in the last 7-8 years. Not only consultancy organizations but even their top notch MNC customers have gone out of businesses. So, much about the big consultants and their advice!!

So, it's time that we start using our brain and innate wisdom to understand the tax/legal issues on hand and devise ways to tackle the issues. Times are tough and going forward - it's going to be tougher. So, it's time that we get out of our cosy comforts and forget about being safe and start learning to take stand, devise a strategy to fight the outcome of the stand and fight out - when required.

Take the issue of double taxation that has shaken the entire Software Industry in India. It has applied a 'brake' and changed the 'gear' from 5th to the 1st gear - without pressing the clutch. Any one who knows how to drive a four wheeler would understand what's fate of such an action.

Some people think that Indian Government has done this intentionally. It's done with a intention of milking docile IT customers and IT Software Houses of their hard earned money. And Government is not in a mood to offer quick corrective action. They want as much money as possible in the government coffers - so that they can pay the farmers and arrears to government employees as per 6th Pay Commission recommendation. And you know very well why all this is done - of course, to get votes in the next election and stay in power for another five years. All this in the name of democracy. It's a shame on us that we take all this lying down.

Consider this case a little deeper to examine - what's implication of both taxes applied simultaneously on the sale of a packaged software product?

It leads a question - whether 'Service tax' and 'VAT' is to be paid on 'basic price' simultaneously or one after another. If applied simultaneously - we are thrown back by 25 years to age old system of manual book keeping because modern Accounting Packages can not handle it. If you are using modern ERP packages then you will need to hire services of costly and time-consuming ERP consultants to modify your billing system. And they will take couple of months to carry out the necessary changes to your billing and accounting system.

If you apply it one after after then question arises - which comes first? VAT or Service tax. Fortunately, there is a consensus among tax authorities that Service tax comes first because it's a Central Government tax (like Excise) and VAT comes next. So, you pay Service tax @ 12.36% on basic price and then charge VAT on the total of basic price and service tax.

So far so good. But, bigger issue to be discussed and settled is whether Service Tax is applicable on the sale of packaged software or not. This is because as per Finance Minister's budget speech and a letter written by the Service Tax Commissioner - Service Tax is applicable on tailor made software and Excise/CVD is payable on the packaged software.

So, it is time to decide whether software resellers are selling tailor-made software or packaged software. Once they are clear about this point they will be able to convince all parties viz., government, distributors and vendors - that Service tax is NOT payable on the packaged software.

In this context, if any one is having any doubt, please read clarification given by Tax Research Unit (TRU) vide D.O. F. No.334/1/2008-TRU dt.29-2-2008:

..
4.1.5 Software and upgrades of software are also supplied electronically, known as digital delivery. Taxation is to be neutral and should not depend on forms of delivery. Such supply of IT software electronically shall be covered within the scope of the proposed service.….
..
4.1.7 Following consequential amendments in other taxable services are also being made: To clarify as removal of doubts that ‘Management, maintenance or repair of properties’ includes Management, maintenance or repair of IT software [section 65(105)(zzg)]. Maintenance of packaged software (being goods) is also leviable to service tax under the said service.

Notice "taxation is to be neutral and should not depend on forms of delivery" and "packaged software (being goods)". So, when we sell packaged software supplied vide different forms of delivery viz. Shrink-wrap, OEM, Paper license or Internet download, it's all same viz. packaged software. Packaged software (being goods) - attract VAT. So, there is no Service tax.

Once we all (dealers, distributors and vendors) are clear and are all united on this issue we could take a stand as an industry and we all should collectively refuse to pay Service tax to government. If government wants Service tax then let them demand it.

Currently we all are assuming that government wants Service tax on packaged software and we are paying it. But indication is otherwise i.e., government's original intention was to levy Service tax on the Tailor-made or Customised software only. Same thing was said in the Finance Minister's speech also.

While presenting the Finance Bill 2008 he said: “I propose to increase the excise duty on packaged software from 8 per cent to 12 per cent to bring it on par with customized software which will attract a Service tax of 12 per cent.”

I've learnt from a customer that he had some verbal discussion with the Commissioner of Service tax. In that Service Tax Commissioner confirmed that Service tax is payable only on the tailor made software. He even said that his field staff does not have mandate for the collection of service tax on packaged software products.

BUT WE ALL ARE PAYING SERVICE TAX ON PACKAGED SOFTWARE - RATHER FOOLISHLY - TO BE ON SAFER SIDE.

WHOSE FAULT IS IT? It is time we start thinking like Legal Experts and Court Judges viz., what is the intention of government in bringing IT Software Services in Service tax net? And whether it is correct to charge two taxes on same item viz., Packaged IT Software .

Believe me, in case of doubts, even our constitution rules in favour of the tax payer and not government.

“Service tax is imposed under entry 97 of List I (in Constitution of India) which is a residual entry. Thus, if a transaction is covered in list II, it cannot get covered in entry 97 of List I. Since sales tax is covered in list II, it is doubtful if service tax can be imposed on a transaction which is entirely getting covered under List II.” - V S Datey - Tax consultant.

Then - it's time that we take a stand as a IT Software Industry and decide not to pay Service tax on packaged software.

Quality of Service provided by the Service Providers

2008-09-13T15:47:00.005+05:30

I remember hearing an episode from my Master about quality of work done by people from India. Many years back in the British newspapers Churchill’s remark about loose wires hanging on the wall attributed to 'some indian must have done the electrical wiring' had attracted furore from Indian elite of his time. But after narrating this episode my master said “Churchill’s observation was correct. How much True it is?.” He went on to explain that we never take 'pride' in what we do.

It is quite sad that even after lapse of 50-60 years situation is very much similar. Although India has emerged as a hub of 'call centre' for the world and MNCs like Dell and others outsource their work to India - looking at quality of services offered - I'm convinced that this boom also will die the death of 'dot-com' bubble. It may not be that fast or sudden but it is written on the wall. Companies giving this outsourcing work to India will realize soon that it's not worth the saving. They better have few people on the job giving quality service than to give it out to Indian who has no concept of what service is.

This comments many seem too harsh but you can prove to yourself that it's 100% true. Just try calling any private or MNC bank in India; or any telephone company for some help; or any good insurance company. I've personally tried taking help on simple issues from ICICI Bank, CitiBank, ICICI Prudential Insurance, SBI Credit Cards, SBI online banking, BPL Mobile for Blackberry Services, Dell for Sales and Technical support, Principal of the D J Sanghvi Engineering College in Mumbai and story is alarmingly same. If you don't bang your head and/or phone and feel like pulling your hair and start curing your decision to take help from this service providers.

Believe me, Indian Government is not justified in charging us 12% Service Tax on Services that you get in India. Service tax should be on 'real services' and not on the 'harassment' in the name of service. May I suggest that Government should call it 'Harassment Tax' because in the name of service we get only a harassment.

I've to really make a great effort in remembering any incidence where I would have got a prompt, simple and correct answer from the service provider. Not that such incidents have not happened ever but they too miniscule in number (say 0.5%) .

You may reason saying I may be too demanding and that's why I'm feeling what I'm feeling. But that's not true. In fact, I'm surprised by the wondering that if I'm - a well educated - tech savvy person is getting such shabby answers from call centre employees and their supervisors; what an ordinary person on the road must be experiencing and feeling?

How is the salary that call centre executives and supervisors and manager is justified? Have you ever managed to speak to a call center's manager? I've never managed it. A call centre supervisor has got 100 tricks to ensure that you give up. Of course, I'm sure usage of such tricks would definitely lead to ulcer and/or heart attack. But, that's what they are getting paid for.

I wonder, what could be the remedy? When would we Indians start taking pride in the work that we do? When will we become disciplined? Even highly educated people are not free from these problems.

I think, it’s time that we stop accepting this non-sense without any fight. Time has come to assert our rights. It’s only we don’t tell that we ‘deserve’ better treatment that we get such treatment. Time has come when we start revolting. If we don’t – no body will.

We should stop saying that ‘who has the time’ to do all this? Agreed, most of us do not have time or energy to put this additional fights but some one will have to. If we don’t help ourselves who will help us? It’s time that we wake up to the fact that Government is not going to do anything unless we demand it forcefully. Courts are not going to help us unless we have infinite time and resources (money). Courts have ceased to a ‘pillar’ of democracy. Media is busy serving interests of ‘rich and powerful’. Who is going to serve us? No one, except ourselves.

Start hitting back whenever you are shabbily treated. Pick-up pen to write letters. Pick-up courage to speak up - without any fear. Demand and you shall get. Knock and door will be opened – Jesus said. It’s time that we take responsibility for ourselves in our own hands and stop depending upon Government, Courts and Media.

Tell me what is a “Packaged Software” license?

2008-08-09T16:45:00.002+05:30

Is it a purchase of “Goods”, “Service” or a “Royalty Payment"?

The idea of “duality” has deep roots not only in Indian Philosophy - where God is supposed be ‘dvaita’ as well as ‘advaita’; but such duality is in modern science also.

In Science, debate over the nature of ‘light’ and ‘matter’ is dating back to the 1600s, when various scientists proposed competing theories of ‘light’. It was through the work of Albert Einstein and many others that current scientific theory holds that all ‘particles’ also have a ‘wave’ nature. That is, 'light' has a dual nature i.e., it is a 'wave' as well as a 'particle'. When light hits a photosensitive material it generates electricity due to its particle nature.

Our Government – which seems to have no equal any where in any other country – have discovered another duality – in fact a new ‘tri-ality’ (for want to better expression let’s say this) about ‘Packaged Software’. It has found that “Packaged Software” is three different things depending upon how you look at it. If you look at it from the view of State level taxes - it’s a ‘goods’. If you look at it from Indirect Taxes point of view - it’s a “Service”. And if you look at it from Direct Taxes (Income Tax) point of view - it’s a “Royalty” payment made to the software developer.

You will say – so what? After all, in India we have more than 5500 laws and more than 100 taxes. We are paying so many taxes. And double taxation is not new.

Of course theoretically Double taxation should not be there and could be corrected. But, for that, once it is there, one need to make a writ petition in the High Court or Supreme Court OR approach some political party for the correction in the law/act. Another alternative is, if you are able to put-up with it, pay double tax. After all, it is not paid from the reseller's pocket. It's the customer who is paying then what’s the big issue?

Let’s look closely to understand this.

If you look at it from State’s point of view (for the purpose of “Value Added Tax” or “Sales Tax”) - Packaged Software License is a “goods” – without any doubt. There are number of court cases and it’s a well settled legal view that “Packaged Software” license is a “goods” and it attracts 4% VAT. It is fine up to this point.

But, if you look at it from the Centre’s point of view (for the purpose of “Service Tax”) Packaged Software License is a “Information Technology Service” (IT Service). Government woke up to this reality as late as in February 2008 and introduced a new service in the list of taxable services during the 2008 budget. With effect from 15-5-2008 all IT Services became taxable under Service tax net.

So, all companies involved in the business of selling Packaged Software Licenses started charging “Service tax” at 12.36% (inclusive of 3% Education Cess). And then to give its due to the 'State' – they are charging “Value Added Tax” at 4% on the total of License Fee and Service tax.

Everybody thought - that’s it. We can manage it i.e., customer will understand somehow that if ‘duality’ is there in ‘Religion’ and ‘Science’ - so it’s not difficult to accept that it could be there in Government taxes also. More or less, most of the customers came to accept the fact that they have to pay double tax - although it’s against the principal of double taxation.

Of course, we have heard that there are some software stalwarts like a large Software Company from Tata Group, which refuses to accept such dual nature of Software because they deal with Software licenses day-in day-out; and who would know it better? So, we understand that they have stopped purchasing Packaged Software products with double tax!! Of course, one may ask - how would they manage without purchasing any packaged software? Simple, they use open source software or they would develop it in-house. After all they have all the resources!!!

Any way, that’s besides the point. There is another twist to the story. In other words, plot thickens now. Don’t underline our Government's ability to create situations which would put even Hollywood film stories to shame!

Story goes like this – Software dealers started billing dual tax to customers in the routine manner (after fixing their Invoicing software, of course) – thinking that that’s it. But when they got payment for the packaged software licenses from the customer, they got a rude shock. They got cheque of only 89% of the Invoice amount from the Customer. Upon inquiry they found that customer had deducted 11.33% as TDS (Tax Deducted at Source aka Income tax) from the payment.

You would say ‘big deal’ - the dealers would pay that much tax less while making advance tax payment. Theoretically yes, but practically no. Why?

A typical software reseller makes about 2 to 4% gross margin on the sale of the packaged software license. So, he purchases it at say Rs.96, sells it a say Rs.100 – considering the best margin case. He bills it to customer at Rs.117 (100 + 12.36%ST +4%VAT). And customer pays him Rs.104 after deducting Rs.13 towards TDS. Reseller pays Rs.17 to Government towards Service tax and VAT – so reseller is left with Rs.87 in his hand. So, net – net he has lost Rs.9 per 96 i.e., he lost 9% from his cash flow. So, tell me after how many such transactions he would be left with no cash flow? You need to be ‘panchvi pass’ to answer this simple question.

Hey boss - don’t be ‘संतुष्ट’ (यार, SRK overtakes me sometimes) with 2 to 4% margin – ask customer to pay 9+4 i.e., 13% margin. Hey, that’s an unlucky number. OK let’s earn 15% gross margin. After all – reseller also needs to make money sometimes. Isn’t it? So, overnight price of Packaged Software license went northwards by 15%. Of course, this increase was over and above the 13% extra that customer shelled out towards Service tax and VAT on Service tax. So, in July 2008 all Packaged Software licenses became dearer by 28%.

End of story? नही यार. Plot thickens now. Some software distributors figured that if they paid 12% CVD (aka Customs Duty) while importing the Packaged Software license then suddenly “IT Software” turned from “Service” to “Goods”. So, when 12% CVD is paid - only 4% VAT would be payable; and no service tax! Wow, it meant that no TDS also. Great solution! After all, Indians are good at finding solutions. We are giving software solutions to the whole of USA and many countries in the world then why not for India. Isn’t it?

So far, before this happened, packaged software license was imported in to India by payment of ‘nil’ customs duty. Whether software was imported as a “paper license” or “software download from Internet” it did not matter. And this was more-or-less in line with GOI ‘s commitment to WTO in 1996 that by 1st June 2000 India will reduce customs duty to zero for 94 IT related items; and other IT items would have zero duty by 1st January 2005. Of course, one anomaly existed viz., if you imported packaged software license in a ‘shrink-wrap’ box then you paid 12% Customs duty. But considering the yearly volume and value of import under category - which is about 2 to 3% of the total packaged software license import – most people ignored this anomaly.

So, at least for some time – software resellers thought that by payment of 12% CVD problem of Service tax and TDS got resolved. But no, our Service tax people are smart. They are not going to give up that easily. Text of the law is in their favour. They have every right to ask each reseller to pay up “Service tax” because they have already tasted the ‘blood’ in this few months. So, software reseller community is keeping it’s fingers (and blood vessels therein) crossed. They are hoping against all hope that Service tax people will be content with revenue they have raked in so far in this 2 months.

But matter is not over yet. In January 2008 news stories had appeared in press that Microsoft was asked to make payment of about 700 to 800 Crore rupees towards Income tax. Also, in July 2008 a Supreme court judgment - in a case involving software imported by Airport Authority of India from a US supplier – it was held that Income-tax was payable by the US supplier in India because payment to them towards software license purchase by AAI was in the nature of ‘royalty’ payment. This was in spite of the wordings of the license agreement, which stated categorically that it was ‘a grant of license to use the software’. If one reads the Microsoft case judgement – it also seems to say the same thing i.e., payment received by Microsoft – although it was through a well-laid distribution network – was in fact an income towards ‘royalty’ payment; and not a ‘business profit’.

So, what does this view from “Income tax” mean to software resellers? It means that customers will keep deducting TDS from their invoices because customers are making payment towards royalty. So last I have heard is that all software resellers are queuing up outside the Income-Tax (TDS) department to apply for the Certificate under Section 197(1) (See Rule 28AA) relating to deduction of tax i.e., lower TDS.

Also, it was heard that price of all ‘downloaded’ software went upwards by another 10 to 20% depending upon from which country the software was procured. Why this? This is to pay the ‘withholding tax’ (aka Income Tax or TDS) to be paid to the Government towards income tax on the profit made by the non-resident supplier in India. This income tax on the profits made by the non-resident supplier seems to be payable by the ‘importer’. Of course, if the non-resident supplier agrees and if India has DTAA (Double Tax Avoidance Agreement) with that supplier’s country then importer may deduct TDS from the payment. But if importer is unlucky – which most likely the case – then importer will have to pay this tax from his own pocket.

Can it become more complex than this? We bet it can – but only in India. We still have our friendly politicians and bureaucrats who can make it still complex. They are capable of inventing ‘fourth’ nature of “Computer Software” licenses - apart from ‘goods’, ‘service’ and ‘royalty’!!!!

But those who are engaged in the business of software license reselling in India have got fad up of all this tax non-sense. Although they are merely 200 to 250 in number (all over India) they have got together and formed an association called "ISODA" - Indian Software Dealers Association. They have already initiated many steps to protect their interest. More on it can be found at http://www.isoda.in

p.s., one question is still unanswered. When a customer purchases ‘Computer Software License’ – how will this payment be classified as? Will it be a revenue expense, royality payment or a fee towards a professional service?

Don’t break your head. Just put this question in the next year’s Chartered Accountant’s (CA) exam. We have heard that only 2% candidates "pass" the final CA exam. But if this question is included in the exam then no one will pass next year’s CA exam. You bet.

Long live India and it’s harried citizens.

TDS Troubles (Woes) reselling Software Subscriptions

2007-09-05T11:27:00.000+05:30

My company sells Computer Software from reputed vendors like Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Red Hat, IBM, Novell, Adobe, Computer Associates etc.

We are an authorised channel partner of Red Hat in India to resell their software products. Recently we sold a good number of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 1 year Subscriptions to a software company. Upon receipt of the payment, we noticed that it was short by about Rs.1,25,000/-. Inquiry revealed that TDS (Tax Deducted at Source)was deducted from the payment at the rate of 11.33%.

Upon inquiry with the cusotmer - we learnt that since it was a sale of 'Technical Service' hence as per prevailing Income tax laws TDS was deducted. But, we pointed out the customer that we were 'an authorised reseller' and not the Actual Service Provider i.e., Red Hat. Customer's argument was that while it's true (but) as per prevailing law they are obliged to deduct TDS from the supplier because there is no mechanism by which they can deduct TDS from the Actual Service Provider i.e,, Red Hat!

So, we thought for a while and came up with this idea that we should deduct TDS from our Supplier who is an authorised distributor for Red Hat in India. Upon disccussion - distributor (Supplier) agreed for the same. Here the 'logic' we had in mind was that like VAT - we would get credit for the TDS deducted by the customer.

But we soon learnt from our Chartered Accountant that we WILL NOT GET any credit for the TDS already deducted by the customer! What ever TDS that we deduct from our Supplier will have to entirely paid to Government promptly! So, our assumption of making TDS payment on our 'Gross Profit' by taking in to consideration TDS deducted by Customer - was wrong. In summary, it did not make sense to deduct TDS from our supplier and make the entire payment to the Government. So, we made full payment to our supplier without deducting any TDS.

What's lesson we learnt from this? Do not resell 'Software Subscription' or 'Software Maintenance' or 'Software Maintenance Renewal' because Indian Income tax laws do not have any provision for 'resell' of 'Technical Service'!

We talked with Red Hat people about this. They could understand our difficulty and promised to look in to the matter and get back to us with a solution. And we are waiting.

We talked to our Chartered Accountant to take up this issue through their 'Association'. They said nothing can be done by their association; as Finance Minister or Income Tax Department does not ask their opinion or listen to them. Only way this can be done is by making representation to Income Tax department by the 'Association of Software Resellers'. What is it called - lobbying - I suppose. And we do not have any association of 'Computer Software Resellers' in India. Bad luck!

So, who will do the representation to the Income Tax department and ensure that suitable amendments are done to the Income Tax laws which makes provision for 'Input Credit' similar to VAT and Central Excise laws? I do not know.

OK that's that. But the funny part comes now. Keep reading...

1. Red Hat's competitor Novell is selling it's Suse Linux Enterprise Server not as a 'Subscription' but as a 'Software Product'. They are charging 4% VAT; and Red Hat charges 12.36% Service tax. So, what's moral of the story? It's obvious.

Note added on 30-10-2007: Not really. Recently when we sold Suse Linux Enterprise Server with 1 year subscription to one customer they deducted TDS while making payment to us! So, what have we learnt? Pray to God! God please save India from it's complex tax laws.

2. One of our old-time and good customer - who are a big time Software House - started deducting TDS on the sale of Software license. Just in case, if you do not know - Software license is treated as a "Product" and it attracts 4% VAT. It is NEVER considered as a 'Technical Service', hence it does not attract Service Tax. So, there should not be any TDS deduction on the sale/resell of Software license.

Upon inquiry we learnt that their 'Consultant' had opined that 'License Fees' charged towards sell of Computer Software is liable to attract TDS due to a new provision in the Income tax laws. So I decided to read this provision. Upon reading I learnt that it was all about applicability of TDS on the payment of 'Royalty' paid on usage of Scientific invention etc.! It said that TDS is to be deducted whenever "Royalty" is paid because of an "License granted" by the Inventor. Reading of full text makes it amply clear that it's all about 'Royalty' payments only.

So, how did the 'Consultant' came to this conclusion that sell of Software license attracts TDS? Oh, it was the presence of the single word 'License' that was the culprit. I reasoned to the customer that usage of word 'license' was in relation of 'royalty' payment and not in relation to 'usage of computer software' or 'grant of software license'. But Consultant's opinion was that - due to 'Stringent Penalty' for non-compliance of Income tax laws - customer was advised to be on safer side and deduct TDS!

So, what's the end result?

1. In first 5 months of the current year -we have paid more TDS than our entire year's Income tax liability. So, at the year end we will be asking for Income tax refund. Do I have to mention - how easy or difficult it is to get the refund the from Income tax department?

2. We have decided not to allow any more TDS to be deducted from the receivables. How do we do it?

We will have to apply to the Service tax department of the Income tax for a certificate which will allow either "no TDS" or "TDS at a lower rate (which is decided by the Income tax officer)" - up to the financial year end or for ever (left again to the discretion of the Income tax officer).

I learnt from my Chartered Accountant that getting this certificate is neither easy not cheap. It would cost us Rs.10,000/- or more. And of course, it will take many trips to the Income tax department and lot of time to get it - if at all.

Update on 30-10-2007: We made an application. Our CA was told upfront that it would get rejected. Why? Because we had paid self-assessment tax in the previous 3 years! Isn't it normal thing to do? What a logic!!

Well, what about 'merit' of the case? Well we can file an appeal to them when it's rejected! About 15 days back we got the rejection letter. What next? File an appeal - what else?

Update on 1-4-2008: No I'm not making April Fool. We got the Certificate of lower deduction from Income tax under section 197(1) at 1.4% on 15-3-2008. We got it after lot of arguments, loads of papers and paper projections and lot of sweat. What's validity? It's valid up to 31-3-2008. We could not use it because we could not find an existing customer in this 15 days - who was going to deduct TDS in this 15 days. Sad!

Update on 9-8-2008: We applied for the same certificate once again in April 2008 with similar load of papers. We got it on 12-5-2008. This time it was for TDS at 1.5%. It's useful.

Another case: We had sold Software Maintenance to a large Bank. Payment came with 4.25% deduction. When TDS certificate came after lapse of 15 months we realised that certificate was for only 2% amount. What about balance 2.25% deduction? Upon inquiry we learnt that it was towards WCT (Works Contract Tax). Well, we told cusotmer that WCT is not applicable on Software Maintenance. They said nothing can be done now (after 18 months) because it is already deducted and paid to the government. What about the certificate? We will get it. What do we do with it? We are thinking of framing it in a nice photoframe and write 'thanks to tax laws in India' this certificate worth more than Rs.30,000 is hanging on our wall.

That's life in India.

Any comments or suggestions?

Taxability of Digital Signatures and Certificates

2005-12-19T12:44:00.000+05:30

Indian Information Technology Act 2000 came in to force about 5 years back. Among many things - it laid legal framework for making digital signatures on par with the physical signature of a person. Also it laid legal framework for issuance of digital certificates to certify/identify owner of a website as a particular person or an organization; and also to facilitate secure communication between the end user and the owner of the website over internet.

Currently there are number of organizations who are permitted to issue such digital certificates. For example, Safescrypt Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services, MTNL and few more. Person or Organizations desirous of getting such digital signature/certificate have to pay a certain fee or price for the same. These digital signatures/certificates are valid for a period of 1 or 2 years from the date of issuance. After the expiry - digital signature/certificate is re-issued after due verification and payment of renewal fee or price.

The issuance of digital signature/certificate has two deliverables. First one is related to checking and certifying existence of a person or an organization. The process involves submission of documents like Signature verification from bank, proof of doing business e.g., Certificate of Incorporation issued by Registrar of firms etc., Copy of Voter's identity Card etc. Second part is issuance of digital certificate by the supplier. Digital Signature/Certificate is used by the user (person) or organization to sign documents, establish website's identity on the internet, encrypt files/documents, securely communicate with internet users etc.

Surely, it's a welcome step towards embracing digital age of Internet and Information Technology by laying down legal framework. But any enacted legislation becomes effective only when entire eco system is geared up for its existence. Firstly act should be backed by making suitable amendment to the related acts e.g., what will be tax implication of digital signature/certificate issuance, in case of any legal problem how will audit trail of entire process will be kept and accepted as evidence in court of law etc.

It is quite sad to note that hardly any state governments have modified/added or clarified applicability of Sales tax or VAT on sale of such digital signatures/certificates. Although sale of these digital signatures/certificates have been going for almost 5 years - there is no clarity on such vital issue. Also, Central Government is silent about applicability of service tax on issuance of digital signatures/certificates. This problem get compounded in certain states where entry tax or octroi is charged on entry of goods/services.

It is high time that state and central government understands this trade issue and makes suitable amendments by correctly classifying digital signature/certificate under existing or new category and giving clear direction on taxability.

More on Right to Information Act

2005-12-18T23:03:00.000+05:30

Just learnt this piece of information from Mahendra Tyagi. He is a whistler blower in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). His wife sought some information from ministry of Petroleum about some issue at IOC under Right to Information Act. They replied to her that her query is referred to IOC and they will reply to it!!

Do you remember what happened when Satyanarayan Dubey wrote to Prime Minister's Office about corruption in Golden quadrilateral Project? Isn't this situation very similar to Satyanarayan Dubey's case?

Crucial point to be noted here is, when a certain answer is sought from a particular ministry they are supposed to answer it. They can not absolve themselves by referring the question to some one else. I'm sure there should be some provision in the Right to Information Act so that such thing does not happen. If it happens then there should be some remedy to correct the situation. If not - then situation is very similar to what an ordinary citizen experiences every day while dealing with government departments viz., "running from pillar to post".

And worst thing is that - when a query is made to a higher authority - how can they refer it to some one down the authority line i.e., ministry of Petroleum is asking IOC? Particularly, this thing assumes very serious proportion because complaint/query is raised against working of IOC. Without any doubt this situation is absolutely same as Satyendra Dubey's case.

We could not do anything about Satyendra Dubey, but this time situation is little different. Currently Right to Information Act is already enacted and surely ministry of Petroleum can not shirk their responsibility. We need to get together and help Mahendra Tyagi and his wife to get answers to the question they are asking. Certainly we do not want another Satyendra Dubey. Isn't it?

We can not and should not remain moot spectator to such callous attitude of Government Departments. It used to be like that - but not now. When Act is in force they should give answers. What do you say?

What's use of authorized service centers of car companies?

2005-12-16T16:55:00.000+05:30

Yesterday spent half a day getting my Indica diesel car problems corrected.

Day-before I had visited one authorized centre for Tata Motors at Andheri (East). I'd gone there to get Basic free service done (given by 3rd party) and to get low pick-up experienced during last few days solved e.g., whenever I start the a/c, car would stop. Also there was a problem of screeching noise from the belt while climbing a slope in 1st/2nd gear.

Upon inspection of my Indica Diesel DLE (year 2000) model, head mechanic told me that car engine is having back compressor problem viz.,., engine oil is splashing from the engine-oil-level-check-vent - because pistons walls have enlarged, EGR motor is not working, excessive black smoke is coming and belt noise is there in 1st/2nd gear. He suggested complete overhaul of engine Rs.5,500/- Engine Kit-Rs.12,000/-, Fuel Pump Setup Rs.5,000/-, Engine Boring etc Rs.5,000/-, Air-conditioner Gas refilling etc. etc.. Total cost about Rs.35,000/- to 40,000/-. Bill of Material added up to Rs.40,000/-!! I fled.

Yesterday visited neighbourhood garage. Upon quick inspection mechanic suggested replacement of air filter (Rs.120/-), diesel filter (Rs.160/-). Changed rubber exhaust hose from engine (Rs.50/-). Slight improvement. Mechanic removed the silencer from the exhaust pipe and lo! Except noise from exhaust everything became perfect. So changed the Silencer (Rs.650/-) and tightened a nut to stop the screeching belt noise. Car is running like a new one. Total cost Rs.1,200/-.

So, what's lesson from this story? It was silencer that had got clogged - due to which exhaust gas was not able to go out, creating pressure on the engine. Was it error of judgment or cut-the- bakra (goat) attitude?

Looking at my 5 year old car could the mechanic not have guessed/checked whether exhaust system is working properly or not? In stead, he straight-away blamed engine for the low pick-up! So, can we trust authorized service centers? Probably not. If yes, then with loads of pinch-of-salt. Why does this thing happen? One reason is high man-power turn over. In small garages same owner works till he hands overs reins to either his son or some other trustworthy person. While in authorized garages, I bet, you won't find same person after a few months. It's not a fiction. It's a fact of life. In other words - knowledge does not accumulate in authorized garages. Every time is a new game. Then why the hell do we go to authorized service centres? To get fleeced? Not sure. Any ideas?

This situation I have seen in Information Technology field also. There are many certification courses. Course and exam fees are truly exorbitant. Those who pass certification say CISCO, MCSE, CNE etc. have just passed exams. It's amply evident from the trainers attitude towards the exam orientation. If a person with industry experience attends this course - he would decide to not to take exam and would ask for refund. What this certified guy have is is a bookish knowledge - it's just enough to pass exams and not more than that. If they know something - it's only because of real life field experience.

Coming back to authorized garages - they have got latest equipments, a/c office, english speaking staff, computers and car mfg trained/exam passed technicians etc. These garage owners are in a hurry to quickly recover their investment by fleecing customers. On the other hand, streetside garage owners may not have latest equipment or knowledge of english; but would have their skill and gut-feel well honed to solve real problems with practical solutions.

This is my second experience of Tata Motors' authorized service centre. First time, about two years back I had visited another authorized service centre in Vikhroli to solve excessive black smoke emission issue. After visiting them 3 times; and no solution to the problem - I complained to Tata Motors. Due to that I got few calls from the garage to visit again but I refused because I did not wished to get serviced by in-experienced had lost trust. That was about 2 years back. So, I thought situation would have improved. But no, it's all same.

So, am I smart fellow who saved about Rs.35,000/- or a fool waiting for some disaster to happen? Not sure. But at least for now, I'm happy that my car is working fine.

Right to Information Act

2005-12-12T16:37:00.000+05:30

It's my experience that - in India - people and organizations are experts in hiding information, giving in-complete / confusing /partially correct / false information. Remember joke where an Indian Chartered accountant in competition with certified accountants from USA and Europe says "how much do want 2+2 to be?". Why such a situation? Because by doing it is very easy to make money and gain power. Vast majority of India believes in it and practices it whole heartedly.

Right to Information act is a little first step in the right direction to root out this corruption. And we have to go a long way before it start giving meaningful results and making difference in the lives of ordinary citizens.

To illustrate my points I'll cite few examples to show how information is made available at present:

* Information is old e.g. official website of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has published license fee rates to be paid under 'Shop and Establishment'. It shows rates prevailing in the year 1997. The rate have been revised at least once in 2004 but website still shows 1997 rate table. It is not updated. Why?

* Visit government of India passport site and try to find out how and where to get duplicate passport - when your original passport is damaged say due to flood in Mumbai on 26-July. Site asks you to download a form. It's same as for a new passport! Great. Visit Passport office enquiry counter and they will hand over a very different form that clearly states that it's for getting duplicate passport. Which one is correct? Both are!! How do I know? because I've seen passport office accepting both forms!!

Now how to apply? Web site says visit Passport office and give application. Online registration is for new passport only. Visit an agent he tells that he will do everything including online registration. So, to double check you visit the web site and try to apply online - and you are presented with an option for duplicate passport!! How come? God only knows. Well I did the registration and given time between 12:30 pm and 1:00 pm. But upon personal visit I understand that once online registration is done - one can visit the passport office for next 3 days.

* Which all places one can submit application for a new Passport in Mumbai? Official site says it's at Worli and two Post offices viz., GPO, Fort and Andheri. What they do not mention is that Passport application is accepted at few other places also. One place I know is next to St. Xavior's College, Opp. Metro Cinema. If you call Passport office on phone they inform that it's accepted at Chembur also. Why this crucial information is not made known at the web site? Not only that - it is not mentioned on the notice boards of Passport office worli also.

* My property document (Agreement for Sale) was given to Stamp Duty and Registration office at Old Customs house, Mumbai for registration (after payment of stamp duty) in 1994. And till 2005 I did not hear from them. Several personal visits did not yield any result. Then in 2005 under Right to Information Act of Maharashtra, I made an application seeking details of pending applications between 1991 to 1995 and what is being done to register such documents.

I got reply saying about 2 lakh documents are pending for this period and work is given on Built-Own-Transfer (BOT) basis to one Pune based party, scanning of all these pending document is in progress and it is expected to get over by December 2005. They said they could not tell me how much registration fee was collected from these pending applications; also they could not tell me value of such pending documents because information was not available.

Question is - when specific reply is sought - how can they say that information is not available? Certainly information is there but one has to compile it. But reply given is - it's not available.

Another thing, my document was in Mumbai only and I've with my own eyes seen thousands perhaps lakhs of original documents lying in Stamp duty/Registration office meaning thereby that they have not been sent to Pune - so that they could get registered by Dec 2005. In fact, I got my document back duly registered in 1st week of Dec 2005. It was lying at Mumbai only and by no means it would have got scanned and registered at Pune - as claimed by the answer given to me.

My question is - if we get in-correct information like in my case - how do we catch them? What could be done under the act to catch such in-correct information providers and possibly book them? I'm not sure.

Hope you got my point from above experience. Information is simply not available in an easily understandable, cohesive and simple manner. One has to toil for it. Why? Otherwise how will agents and brokers make their living? Simple - isn't it?

Another problem - In India, one invariably looses why dealing with government. How? Read below:
* When you make payment to government for 3 years say Professional tax - if it is revised upwards inbetween - then you save money. Right? Wrong if you have made payment to Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. I paid Shop and establishment department for 3 years together - based on 9 people working in my company for the period 2003 to 2005. When I went to pay for another 3 years in Dec 2005 - I was asked to pay additional Rs.2,400/- because rates were revised and slabs had also changed in 2004. I argued that since we had paid for 3 years - revised rates were not applicable. I was told - MCGM accepts payment for 3 years together for customers convenience only. One can pay every year also. Fine. Accepted.

Why was I asked to pay extra? Because slabs had got revised and because I had 9 employees as per new slab of 6-10 employees Rs.1,200/- per year extra is to be paid. But I realized that in 2004 I had only 5 employees i.e., 4 people left in 2003. But to that MCGM argued that I informed them about it in Dec 2005 (although change occurred in 2004).

But when I have paid for 3 years in advance is it not MCGM's duty to demand extra as soon as it becomes due/applicable? They did not. And when I went to pay for next 3 years they charged for it and blamed saying we did not inform them in time about change of employees. This is too bad! One feels cheated.