And they rose to the call of service

And they rose to the call of service
Financial Express

NEW DELHI, JULY 7: Viva outsourcing! As London struggled to return to normalcy in the aftermath of terrorist attacks, Indian call centres rose magnificently to the aid of Londoners.


Customer care executives in Bangalore rushed to answer the deluge of queries from friends and family members wanting to know the fate of their loved ones. Lakhs of Londoners use about 500 trains during the peak hours in the morning to go to work.

In 2003, National Rail Inquiries chairman Charles Belcher had testified before UK parliament’s transport select committee that the company was under intense pressure to save costs and moving abroad could save an estimated œ25 million over five years. His statement had brought forth howls of protests.

As labour unions, fearful of job losses reacted in anger, there were fears that the business would be shifted back to UK. But on Thursday, the months of acrimony that followed Belcher’s statement suddenly fell away as call centres in Bangalore rushed to the aid of beleaguered Londoners thousands of miles away.