Whose fault is it anyway? Some years ago, our company and another company in UK, worked on a project for a customer in The Netherlands. I had to travel often to the UK to discuss project specifics and an associate from the UK based company would accompany me to the customer in The Netherlands. Every time I was in UK, I was really well taken care of by my associate. He used to take me to restaurants that served vegetarian food, and on weekends, he used to accompany me for sight seeing and all that. He was the perfect definition of a host. Over two years we successfully completed the project in The Netherlands. For some years after that we were not in touch. An opportunity sprang up in Chennai, with almost the same project as the one in The Netherlands. I immediately contacted my business associate in UK and shared with him the project details. Both of us felt that it was very similar to the one executed in The Netherlands. This time it was my business associates turn to visit India and I requested him to fly to Chennai directly from London. I was there at the airport to receive him and we were both very happy to see each other. We were driven to a 5 star hotel, where I had made reservations for two individual rooms. We went up to the reception and we were duly filling in the forms when the receptionist informed me the room charges in Indian Rupees and asked me for my credit card. I duly obliged. After my business associate filled in the form, he handed it over to the clerk at the desk. He was asked to pay in US Dollars or UK Pounds and the rate was (when converted to Indian Rupees) substantially higher than paid by me. My associate asked why the differentiation. I too stepped in and told the clerk that he should be charged the same as me. We were informed that foreigners are required to pay in Hard currency such as US Dollars or UK Pounds only and the rates are different for Indian citizens and foreigners. My associate got very perturbed and lost his cool. He said, If ever you visit UK do we ask you to pay more than a local citizen?. He refused to sign in and asked to see the head of the hotel. After a while, the GM of the hotel walked into the reception area and explained to us that as per Government of India rules, ALL foreigners are required to pay in Hard currency and at rates substantially higher than that charged for Indians. I intervened and quoted an RBI rule, that as a company, I can host a foreigner at my cost at rates specified to Indian citizens. But the GM said he was not aware of such a rule and he had not seen any such circular from RBI. My associate was furious and he started using the B word and he started painting all Indians with the same brush........ I tried to calm his nerves but he did not budge. He refused to check into the hotel and called for a taxi to be driven back to the airport. The hotel management was right in following the rules. My business associate was right in pointing out unfair practices. Chidananda Rupah Shivoham Shivoham Phanibhushan Sharma
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 13:22:07 +0000
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