Population: 1,080,264,388

Economy Overview:

India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. Services are the major source of economic growth, though two-thirds of the workforce is in agriculture. The UPA government has committed to furthering economic reforms and developing basic infrastructure to improve the lives of the rural poor and boost economic performance. Government controls on foreign trade and investment have been reduced in some areas, but high tariffs (averaging 20% in 2004) and limits on foreign direct investment are still in place. The government has indicated it will do more to liberalize investment in civil aviation, telecom, and insurance sectors in the near term. Privatization of government-owned industries has proceeded slowly, and continues to generate political debate; continued social, political, and economic rigidities hold back needed initiatives. The economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of 6.8% since 1994, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. Despite strong growth, the World Bank and others worry about the combined state and federal budget deficit, running at approximately 9% of GDP. The huge and growing population is the fundamental social, economic, and environmental problem. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took nearly 11,000 lives, left almost 6,000 missing, destroyed $1.2 billion worth of property, and severely damaged the fishing fleet.

General Business Practices.

a) The languages used in India are English, Hindi & regional languages in different parts of country. English is used in court proceedings.
b) The Rupee is the main currency used throughout India for all business transactions.
c) There is not any basic professional etiques to follow that might facilitate business proceedings?

Collections - General Information

A. + B. Background of Industry

It is difficult to estimate the volume of collection activity in India.
Collection work is handled by both lawyers, professional agents and collection agencies, and is carried out on both consumer and commercial debt.
There are no licencing requirements that are needed in order to carry out debt collection.

C. General pre-legal collection proceedures

1) A typical collection agency would contact the debtor at the first instance either by phone or by a demand letter. A collection agency would at all times try and seek an amicable settlement and would be involved in the matter at all times as against a
A collection agency may recommend legal action if amicable settlement is not possible.
2) Lawyers in India are not allowed to work on a contingency basis. Once a file is refereed to them they would typically send a formal legal notice to the debtor. If debtor responds they will refer it to the client for him to deal with the debtor directly. Lawyers charge a fee for issuing a demand legal notice.
Should the debtor not respond a lawyer will generally recommend legal action to their client, and they will charge a fee at each stage in the legal process. A typical arrangement most lawyers use is 25% of the costs at the time of filling the plaint, 25% when summons is served, 25% when the matter comes to the stage of argument and the balance when decree is obtained.

D. Collection charges and remuneration

1) A typical collection agency would work on a no collect no fee basis and may take a small placement fee. A collection agency would work on a no collect no fee basis if the matter is settled amicably. However, shoul