BQ Prime's Viral Tweet Shows Anger Against Pesky Calls, Takes Issue To RBI

A small tweet could well lead to a big change. Hopefully, for hundreds of thousands of people who keep getting telemarketing calls. A national nuisance that has found no solution and keeps going in circles.

BQ Prime took the lead in highlighting this problem through a tweet, which has gone viral with Twitterati lashing out at such calls and making suggestions on how to control these pesky calls. The tweet in question was also raised at the RBI press conference.

The core issue is not about the response from this one company. It is about the very basic approach to marketing with utter disregard for individual privacy. These calls have spared none, not even the mighty and wealthy. Even, the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee once got a call amid a crucial meeting. He was offered a loan.

Can we just ignore this nuisance and keep moving on with our daily business? The answers are evident from the thousands of responses that BQ Prime has received for this ever growing ‘monster’. There are some very interesting and useful suggestions that have come up in the process. We are highlighting some of them here.

There must have been many who were frustrated with Bajaj Finserv Ltd.’s constant telemarketing calls. The frustration turned into anger after Sanjiv Bajaj, managing director at the non-bank lender, said customers will soon have the option to be “forgotten” by the company but "don't come back to us for your products and services".

Some on Twitter lauded the offer as a good move, but many dubbed Bajaj as “arrogant” for his response.

“We will happily forget you forever,” wrote investor Safir Anand as he shared BQ Prime’s tweet on Bajaj’s comment. Sharing a direct message for the Bajaj Finserv Ltd. MD, he wrote, “You are in a service business Mr Bajaj where you have zero right to invade any privacy without consent, just as you decide at your discretion to give loans. Life is not an arm twist.”

Reacting to BQ Prime’s tweet, Deepak Shenoy, founder and CEO of Capital Mind, wrote, “The problem seems to be that every response is like: I’ll take that trade anyday... just don’t call me ever.” He even suggested an “autoresponder app” for Bajaj Finance calls that would just say “hello? Can you hear me?” on loop.

Journalist Vir Sanghvi called for action against the “big bosses” who are responsible for the telemarketing calls.

Many said Bajaj's comment displayed arrogance.

"Arrogance at its peak, we won't come to you and you don't come to us again," wrote cardiac surgeon Prashant Mishra.

"So you will refuse to give a loan to those with good credit merely because they opted out of marketing calls?" questioned lawyer Sandeep Pravin Parekh. FinTrekk Capital founder Amit Kumar Gupta watched the whole interview to make sure he was not missing any nuance to and concluded that Bajaj's statement reflected "sheer arrogance".

Journalist Malini Bhupta questioned why government's DND registry is not enough to stop telemarketing calls. "If an individual does not want to be troubled by call centre calls, the person will be penalised by Bajaj Finance?" she asked. Debashis Basu called Bajaj's comment "dumb arrogance".

Abhinav Agarwal was also of the opinion that the Bajaj Finserv managing director came across as "brash and arrogant". Aurum Capital Co-founder Jiten Parmar noted that Sanjiv Bajaj should be aware that Bajaj Finance is not the only lender in India. "There are 1000s. Such arrogance is something which promoters should avoid (sic)," he wrote.

BQ Prime's tweet reached the RBI as well. During a press conference after the announcement of monetary policy, a question was raised about Bajaj's remark on pesky calls. In response, Deputy Governor MK Jain said, "We (RBI) will examine this issue."