COMPUTERISED SHYLOCKS

This piece is based on a “TRUE STORY” and is intended as a polite warning to youngsters who tend to live beyond their means corrupted by the lure of easy credit and "free" life time offers by the banking sector (mainly the Private/Foreign as opposed to Nationalized Banks).
A qualified experienced young man decides to opt for VRS (golden hand shake) from the corporate sector and goes into a business venture along with a friend (who smartly retains his employment). Unfortunately, over a period of years it transpires that the friend (mini Ramalinga Raju!!) is a “Cheat” who wipes out the entire capital sunk by our young man and quietly disappears to concentrate on his executive job.
For obvious reasons the income stream gradually dries up but cash flow remains intact since the bunch of Credit Cards which this young man had obtained (while in employment and business) from various private/foreign banks continued to be swiped to maintain his life style in the hope that some gainful employment/business activity will soon take care of the credits.
Enter the “Debt Trap” skillfully set up by the banks.
For fear of default in monthly servicing of Credit Cards and its dire consequences (including being beaten up by bank’s panel of out sourced “goons” a.k.a. Debt Recovery Agents) our victim of circumstances is now offered convenient “UNSECURED LOANS” not only to service the existing cards but also to continue his life style in anticipation of the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. Reinforced by Bank’s faith on his credit worthiness, Credit Card loans are sanctioned over the phone and accepted with apparently lucrative EMIs.
The bubble continues to grow. Fortunately, before the Debt ridden individual reaches the point of no return (usually suicide), his woes accidentally gets disclosed and efforts are initiated by family/friends to puncture the bubble by liquidating the loans.
This is when the murky under belly of the “Friendly Banker” gets exposed. The sensible decision to pool resources and seek pre-mature closure of the loans triggers extremely unfriendly interaction with a ‘faceless’ system working behind a barrier of phone calls and e-mails (thanks to the BPO Devil).
The amount determined for closure, after being made to run from pillar to post for weeks (which period also ultimately becomes part of interest calculation), gets inflated by penal interest (because the loan is being settled before due date?) and other charges way beyond the original amount which the borrower is forced to accept without any recourse to understanding the calculations and scope for negotiation. All efforts to contact a ‘Human Being’ are in vain. The telephone/e-mail interface threatens that any delay associated with efforts made to seek audience with any relevant bank official in blood and flesh will be at a price of “X – Rupees” per day of delay!! once they have declared the settlement figure.
Incidentally, there are no written and signed loan documents – but only “Voice” recordings in support of the loan transactions which in the first place are sanctioned and disbursed ‘OVER PHONE’ (perils of our HI TECH generation).
Similar frightening episodes are sure to be occurring in our society becoming nightmares for youngsters hiding behind false hopes. I caution them to avoid such fool hardy schemes to portray success. Parents, relatives and friends are also urged to keep channels of communication open to identify devastating “Debt Traps” into which their loved ones may unwittingly walk into.