What's happening to the consumer of India?
	I have been viewing numerous cases of harassment. I have felt some of
	these myself. Well the standard grievience is 
	"We have a credit card offer".

	I started getting these calls the minute I gave the cell phone number in
	the bank/insurance etc forms when I switched the company. Whenever I get
	these kind of calls I always ask the person on the other side as to who it
	was and I am not interested in these kind of offers. I do not like to speak
	rudely to people but it just happens that this lot gets to my nerves. I
	always ask if I could speak to their manager and I always get the answer
	that the manager is not there. Is this some kind of a lousy company or
	what? Worst things are that they insist on your taking the card etc; and
	then when I did apply to ICICI bank, nothing happened. BTW till date I have
	applied three times to ICICI bank for a credit card. I dont know if its a
	good thing or bad thing that I did not get the card yet.

	The next one was the calls that I used to get from Orange when I was in
	mumbai. You see I had a prepaid card and they apparently did not like that.
	So they kept telling me what was good for me. I kept telling them back that
	I am grown up and I know what decisions I would like to take for myself.
	Well the next month its the same call, just a different person. Sometimes I
	feel sad for the employee who has to endure my flame. Well what can I say!

	Recently I had seen an upward spiral in the way the consumer's privacy is
	raided. This looks like the huns raiding the neighbouring countries. First
	of all I take a mobile and do not publish it on the internet because I did
	not want anyone to look @ it. I use a mobile phone for personal needs. I
	give my mobile phone to only certain people I regard are important. These
	representatives are definitely not the people I am looking for.

	Oh yeah and I was watching this program called "Uncovered" on CNBC TV 18. I
	suggest everyone watches it. Credit card companies sending in "Recovery
	Agents" aka Goons/goondas, insurance agencies rejecting the claims on
	frivolous reasons, vehicle loan lending companies snatching away the
	vehicle because a customer has not paid the monthly installment and
	ofcourse my favourite "We have a credit card offer".
	Catch it all @ www.moneycontrol.com - you will be aghast @ the scale of
	this problem.

	Some of the important points that I understood from the various programs:

	1) No agency can send in recovery agents without a prior court order.
	2) Snatching of property cannot happen without a civil court order.
	3) Recovery agents are increasingly being used by banks and 
		Citibank seems to lead the lot in this rot. So stay away from Citibank.
	4) In all cases, ensure that you threaten the bank with a law suit in the
		consumer forum if they harass you.
	5) NEVER accept lousy service from these people, they are charging a lot of
		money for this.
	6) Yaaaarrr... Govt agencies are much better in this aspect (I hope I am
	not countered).
Links:
http://cnbcwatch.moneycontrol.com/
http://gdit.iiit.net/~cyrax/