Steps to revive sick PSUs
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 22 — The Centre is considering various options, including joint ventures, market borrowings for induction of fresh funds and separation of loss making subsidiaries from parent companies, in a determined bid to turn around sick public sector units.

The Minister of State for Industry, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is personally overseeing the operations of these units, has held consultations with the management of these units.

At a review meeting held with the top management functionaries of some of these units, Mr Badal is understood to have suggested ways and means for their revival.

Andrew Yule and Company Ltd (AYCL) has already achieved some progress in this regard and for the belting division of the company a new joint venture concern Phoenix Yule Limited (PYL) is expected to come into operation by the first week of February this year.

The Ministry is also understood to have agreed to consider the revival plan of AYCL’s engineering division which envisages extension of government guarantee and induction of fresh funds.

Regarding Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited (BBUNL), a group of 10 companies, Mr Badal is likely to take up the issue of “sudden” reduction of orders for railway wagons with the Railway Minister.

It was also agreed that the BBUNL will formulate a long-term strategy with a focus on technological upgradation and modernisation.

Regarding HMT, Mr Badal, while appreciating the efforts made for the formation of a JV for HMT tractors, has also directed the management to explore the possibility of JV formation for the watch group. Mr Badal was in favour of appointing a consultant who would look into various aspects like existing market, prospects for growth, product profile and possible JV partners.

Banking on Indica wave
By Nirmal Sandhu
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 22 — Major banks — ANZ Grindlays, HDFC Bank and Bank of Punjab — and finance companies like Tata Finance, ICICI and AVCO Financial Services of the USA are vying with one another to offer finance at competitive interest rates to Tata Indica buyers in Chandigarh.

Interest rates vary between 14.5 per cent and 16 per cent on a reducing basis. The down payment also varies — from Rs 2999 for 40 days to Rs 6933 — depending on the model.

Easy availability of finance combined with media hype for the latest beauty from the Tata House has led to a tremendous response to Tata Indica.

Hind Motors, the local dealer of Telco, has been a witness to huge rush and frequent traffic blockades ever since the Indica bookings opened on January 17.

Till Thursday 2,500 booking orders had been accepted in Chandigarh. The last two crucial days are expected to substantially add to the number, says Sonal Sharma, Logistics Officer of Telco.

Of all the bookings , 82 per cent are for the Diesel AC model of Indica, 5.6 per cent for the Diesel Standard, 2 per cent for Petrol Standard and 10.4 per cent for the Diesel De Luxe fully loaded model which, interestingly is higher than the national average of 5 per cent — the figures for which were released by Telco yesterday.

There are only three dealers of Telco in this region. Apart from the one in Chandigarh, the other two are at Ambala and Ludhiana. Dealers have deputed agents in other towns to collect bookings. Families and villagers from nearby areas flock to the local showroom to see or book the “dream” car. Children could be seen insisting on having a particular colour of their choice.

“Similar crowds were seen way back in 1989 when Bajaj Chetak could be booked against foreign exchange,” said Ashish M.Gupta, Executive Director, Hind Motors.

Any possibility of out-of-turn or bungling in car allotments? Mrs Sonal Sharma said: “Except the 15 per cent quota reserved for the Tata management, there will be no discretionary allotments at any other level.”

Quite a few buyers were upset with the “draw of lots” system. “Why not ensure firm allotment for each booking even if it means waiting a little longer,” asked an agitated customer and added: “I would rather go in for a readily available car.”

While the draw-of-lots will be held in the first week of February, deliveries will start in March and may continue even in April.

How do you feel after having a ride in the diesel car? It is stable with a firm grip on the road, picks up slower than petrol cars like Santro and Matiz, but is much safer with an effective suspension and a tolerable noise level of the diesel engine.

Telecom policy draft to be put on Internet
From Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

PARWANOO, (Solan) Jan 22 — A draft of a new telecom policy is ready and will be put on the Internet in the next few days inviting comments from the public before it is finally tabled in Parliament, informed the Union Communications Minister, Mr Jagmohan, while talking to The Tribune here today.

The Minister, who is also a former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, was in this industrial township today to interact with the business community to know about their problems regarding communication facility. Later in the afternoon he visited Chandigarh to talk about the problems with industrialists, telephone users, social and other business organisations.

The main points of the policy will be advertised in all newspapers and the entire details will be on the Internet. Discussing about the long-pending Direct to Home (DTH) broadcast system being sought by television channels, he said it would be put in the new policy. The final shaping will, however, be in the hands of the joint committee in which the Communications Ministry is also represented. He was non-committal about DTH being allowed in any form or not.

In the past a lobby citing "how will the government have control over the skies if a scheme like the DTH is approved" has been opposing entry of DTH operators.

Distant areas like Manali, Leh, Andaman Islands and Jammu and Kashmir will be given priority . " The idea is to make communication as scientific as possible in these areas," the Minister added. Replying to a question on lowering of tariffs for high density users, he said, tarrifs bring income to lay lines and exchanges in non-profitable remote areas.

The Minister admitted that the biggest problem was of inflated bills. Powers had been given to the General Managers and Chief General Managers to waive the bills that seemed to be ingenuine. The customer would not have to deposit the disputed bill before contesting it, Mr Jagmohan clarified. Recently four such cases had been handed over to the CBI for investigation.

Further on customer service, he said, a decision had been taken to issue pagers to linemen in selected cities to have a faster fault repair service. On service matters, he said, the cadre of the Indian Telecom Services was being re-organised and upgraded. This was to encourage officials to be result oriented.

Earlier the industrialists of Baddi and Barotiwala told Mr Jagmohan that the Internet connectivity through the Shimla node was not up to the mark. Another problem was of incoming long distance calls that do not materialise. They demanded direct connectivity with Chandigarh. The industrialists further demanded that international call charges should be reduced. The local administration, including the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, was in attendance.

In Chandigarh the complaints made to Mr Jagmohan ranged from bad Internet connections to problems of major equipment suppliers, slow fault repair rate and road cuts due to frequent laying of cables. A delegation from Nayagaon village demanded that they should be delinked from Chandigarh, the charging area, as they had to pay more rents. Users pointed out how Internet breakdown was frequent and connectivity bad.

The Residential PCO Holders Association and the local unit of the Congress presented separate memoranda of demands.

Later in the evening the Regional Director of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mr Piyush Bahl, said structuring of the meeting was wrong as separate time had to be given to users and equipment suppliers who had pumped in investments worth several hundred crores. The CII would seek separate time from the Minister to interact with the equipment suppliers.

During the day Mr Jagmohan visited the Kalka telephone exchange, the Panchkula telephone exchange, the staff quarters in Sector 44, Chandigarh, and the General Post Office in Sector 17. At all the places he discussed matters with the staff.

Mr Jagmohan informed that the waiting list for the new telephone connections for Chandigarh will be cleared by March 31, 1999.

National Insurance eyes 2,000 crore target
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 22—National Insurance Company Ltd recorded a premium of Rs 1,637 crore during 1997-98, having the highest growth among all insurance companies, said Mr Gurinder Raj Singh, Manager Corporate Marketing of the company. The company has set a premium target of Rs 2000 crore for 98-99.

‘National’ Insurance offers 179 policies covering more than 75 lakh policyholders. It has been rated as ‘AAA’ by ICRA, which signifies its highest claims paying ability.

He said that the National’s regional office at Chandigarh operating in Punjab and the UT is having a market share of 29 per cent in this region. It has 14 divisions and 49 branches.

National Insurance Co and United Group of Chartered Engineers (UGCE) have joined hands to promote a new quality service concept similar to what is being followed in the USA and Europe. UGCE is entering into an MoU with National which ensures early and hazardless settlement of claims.

National Insurance has launched some innovative policies like Critical Illness, Videsh Yatra Mitra, NRI Accident Insurance, Suhana Safar, Office Package, Amartya Shiksha and Rajrajeshwari and Bhagyashree insurance policies.

by Pushpa Girimaji
Executive indifferent to consumer courts

SPEAKING at a function at the Gujarat High Court last week, the Chief Justice of India, Justice A.S. Anand, expressed unhappiness over the delay on the part of the executive in filling vacancies in high courts and subordinate courts in the country and described the attitude of the executive towards the judiciary as “callous”.

Well, a similar attitude of the executive is reflected in the functioning of the consumer courts in the country too, with the working of these quasi-judicial bodies often coming to a standstill on account of delays in the appointment of judicial and non-judicial members. Information gathered by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs at the Centre during March and June last year revealed that 64 district fora in the country were non-functional as a result of the failure of the State governments to appoint members and presidents. While in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 32 out 83 district fora were reported to be non-functional, in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, the number of such non-working fora were 14 and 7 respectively. There are altogether 543 district fora in the country. Similarly, out of 32 state commissions in the country, five were not functioning on account of delays in filling vacancies, while several others, though functioning, had at least one vacancy.

The Consumer Protection Act provides for a judicial member and two non-judicial members, one of whom should be a woman, to head the consumer courts at the district and state levels. While members and President of the district forum retire after a term of five years or on attaining 65 years, whichever is earlier, members and President of the state commission can hold office for five years or up to the age of 67 years, whichever is earlier. Every proceeding before the court has to be conducted by the President and at least one member or the senior most member (acting as the President) along with another member. The orders are valid only when signed by both of them.

Take the West Bengal state commission for example. The lady member of the commission completed her term on March 12, 1998, but the vacancy was not filled up. In the meanwhile, the President of the commission retired on May 31, 1998 and so the state commission has ceased to function. In fact a peculiar situation has arisen here. The State government maintains that as stipulated under the CP Act, the term of the President came to an end on May 31 following his attaining the age of 67 years.

Justice Bhattacharjee, however, challenged this before the State Appellate Tribunal, secured an order of injunction and continued to function as the President, till the injunction was vacated on August 17, 1998. Now what is worrying consumers whose cases have been decided between June 1 to August 17 is whether the orders given by the state commission during this period would be valid. The President of the National Commission, Justice Suhas C. Sen, when asked for his opinion, said the commission would take a view when the issue camp up before it. In the meanwhile, an estimated 500 cases are pending before the state commission.

It is unfortunate that in the last 12 years, state governments have shown utmost reluctance to implement a law meant for the protection of consumers in the country. When the law first came into being, they were unwilling to set up consumer courts. So much so that a Delhi-based voluntary group, Common Cause, had to petition the Supreme Court to get the states to constitute the Fora.

And now the state governments need to be prodded every time a vacancy arises in these courts, to appoint new judicial and non-judicial members so that the working of these courts is not affected. It’s time consumers protested over the poor implementation of the law.

Global Daewoo
CHANDIGARH, Jan 22 (TNS) —Global Tele-Systems Ltd. has tied up with Daewoo to launch Global Daewoo fax machines in India. Global Daewoo is introducing three new models of fax machines in India.

Website
NEW DELHI, Jan 22 (PTI) — The Union Tourism Ministry today launched its official website aimed at providing latest information to travellers. Launched by Minister of State for Tourism Omak Apang, the website’s address is www.tourisminindia. com