In the week that a worker in a Bangalore call centre operated by banking giant HSBC was arrested for allegedly supplying personal details to fraudsters who went on to steal £230,000 from 16 UK customers, Miles Brignall in the Guardian asks whether the time is up for Indian call centres.
With absenteeism and staff turnover in India now approaching levels in the UK, many companies are starting to ask whether the savings are worth it. Particularly when they see rivals promoting the fact they remain in the UK - and picking up customers on the back of it.
And according to Mike Harvard, managing director of CM-Insight, an independent consultancy which advises companies on call centre management: "Questions are being asked in boardrooms across the country about whether the savings are worth the potential loss of consumer confidence."
But – and it is a big but - as the report also points out, frauds committed by staff employed at home are rarely reported in the same way - not least because the banks are much better at hushing them up.
The Guardian | Is it finally time to hang-up on Indian call centres?