Heaven, Hell and Payment Methods

Last week of January appears to throw interesting news all-round. As we are still in the last week of January this year, we have to make do with a couple of fantastic news items that surfaced in the last week of January in the earlier years. The real connection between audits and surfacing of these news items is not yet known, but let us all be assured that research is in progress and results may be out in the last week of January. Month of the publication of results is known, but year is not yet revealed. 

The first such item came up in June, 2023 though the actual event culminated on 22nd January, 2022. The case was widely reported by the mainstream media in India and BBC did it for rest of the world. A man by name Ankush Dutta, hailing from North East India, checked into a 5-Star  Roseate Hotel near the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on 30th May, 2019. He stayed in the hotel for two years, 603 days to be exact. He checked out on 22nd January, 2022. There is nothing special in this except that it was an unusually long stay at the hotel. It made news because he did not pay even a paisa or a dime though he had run up bills amounting to Rs. 58 lacs or USD 70,000. 

It came to the knowledge of the top management of the hotel through an audit report in June, 2023. The audit report used the usual language while reporting the issue. It said that "the bills were forged, deleted, added and falsified with a large number of entries in the account of the guest in the Opera Software system of the hotel". The hotel rules required that as soon as the dues of a guest crossed Rupees 50,000 he would be pushed for payments. Somehow dues of this man were always missing in the amounts due reports presented to the top management. The management doubted collusion by staff of the hotel and filed a police complaint.

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Then there was another case in January, 2024. A woman, Jhansi Rani Samuel from Andhra Pradesh, registered as a guest on January 30, 2024 at the 5-Star Pullman Hotel in Aerocity, Delhi. It was told that her husband was a doctor in New York, USA. She stayed for only 15 days. She used the Spa facility at the hotel with a counterfeit Identity Card as Isha Dave. Hotel bill was Rupees 5,88,176 and the Spa bill was Rupees 2,11,708 thus totalling Rupees 7,99,884, only sixteen rupees short of eight lakh rupees mark. 

She showed payments made to the hotel on the bank's App and checked out. During subsequent reconciliation of accounts, it was found that the payments shown to have been made on the bank's App never reached the hotel accounts!

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It is common knowledge that though the entire hotel may be given a particular rating, say 5-Star, the room tariffs vary according to the area of the different rooms, amenities in them as well as usage of other additional facilities provided in the hotel complex. Certain facilities are common to all while some others are optional. The more luxuries you use, the more you pay. The more you eat and drink, the more you are charged. So, guests staying there for the same period pay different amounts in bills. Conversely, guests going there with the same amount of money in their pockets or purse can stay for different periods depending on the facilities they use. 

We have many descriptions in our ancient texts about the varied luxurious facilities one can enjoy in the Heaven. A common belief we derive from those descriptions is that the Heavens (may be one Heaven, but different types of rooms!) are much more luxurious than the Star hotels we have on this earth. This being the case, it will be interesting to think of the method of payments there as against paying the star hotels on earth. Also, possibilities of escaping payments after enjoying the luxuries like the two adventurous guests we saw in the Delhi hotels.

One cannot just talk of Heaven and get away with it. There is as well as Hell to pay. Therefore, it becomes necessary to think of payment methods in Hell as well. Surely, the tariffs must be different in Hell also. For example, charges for getting fried for one hour in 200 degree Celsius hot oil cannot be the same as being fried for four hours in 400 degree Celsius hot oil. 

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Our ancient texts have given very clear details about the systems of payments in Heaven as well as Hell. In fact, Hell complex has seven different levels. "Garuda Purana" exclusively deals with the systems in Hell, though there are many other references in numerous other texts as well. The many amenities available in Heaven as well systems of payment in Heaven is available in similar numerous texts.

In a way, though none of us have been to either destination in our present lives so far, we can confidently talk about payments systems in both, as the details are available in plenty as also in clear terms.  

Modren man may pride himself as being an inventor of many payment methods. Starting from barter system, coins, currency notes and then progressing to credit/debit/pre-paid cards and other electronic payments etc. But ancient times had even more authentic and fool-proof payment systems in both these destinations. What is even more interesting is that there is no possibility of escaping payment like the two guests at the Delhi hotels. 

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Entry into Heaven is strictly regulated through Pre-paid cards. Other payment methods like credit cards or EMI methods are strictly prohibited. Chapter 9 Verse 21 of Bhagavad Gita clearly enunciates the principle "Ksheene Punye Martyalokam विशन्ति"  ("क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति") (ಕ್ಷೀಣೇ ಪುಣ್ಯೇ ಮರ್ತ್ಯಲೋಕ0 ವಿಶಂತಿ), meaning that entry into Heaven is based on pre-earned punya-basis and once the punya is exhausted there is automatic checkout with free and immediate transportation back to the mortal earth. There is no system of using a facility, running a bill and then making or escaping payment. 

A guest has to pre-load the card with punya points while living on earth. Higher the points earned and loaded, better facilities can be utilised and the stay can also be longer. 

All entry points for various facilities there have automatic entry gate machines that deduct the payable punya from the prepaid punya card and allow entry only thereafter. Thus there is no possibility of colluding with the staff there and managing to escape with non-payment or under-payment. There is also no escape until the next audit and managing to move far away before the audit reports are out. Very efficient system indeed!

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What is the system of payments in Hell? System in Hell is even more efficient than Heaven. Garuda Purana exclusively gives even minute details. It is like buying pre-paid coupons for purchasing items in a regulated shop. The system mandates that once the coupon is purchased it cannot be lost, torn and thrown or transferred to someone else. The item, facility or amenity cannot be refused or escaped. The coupon sticks to the earner/purchaser and goes away only after 100 per cent utilisation. 

Even thinking of any attempt to escape by colluding with the staff there will automatically generate additional coupons making additional usage compulsory. The final exit is only after clearance by the audit department there. There is a system of Concurrent Audit in use and there is no time lag between availing of facilities and audit sometime thereafter.

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What about those who do not believing in existence of Heaven or Hell? There appears to be another system of "On-location Programs" on earth itself. As this piece has become quite lengthy, let us consider it in detail at some other time.

You Are Always Late

Friction at cash counters is not an uncommon sight in bank branches. Modren technology has rendered counting of cash and detection of fake notes much simpler than what it used to be some forty years ago. When cash counting machines had not yet made their debut, and digital banking and Alternate Delivery Channels (ADCs) like ATMs, internet and mobile banking were not heard of, large volume of cash had to be examined and counted by cashiers each day. Cash was to be first counted and received, then sorted into issuable and soiled notes, stitched into packets of 100 notes each and bundled at 10 packets per bundle. All this took the required amount of time and could not be dispensed with. Handling cash is different from other banking chores and a cashier is accountable for every single piece of currency note he handles. Any shortage is to be made good by the handling cashier immediately. Small denomination notes and cut and mutilated notes add to the problem. "Clean Note Policy" has brought some semblance of discipline in handling currency notes by the general public nowadays. The most important development is routing of large number and volume of transactions through paper-based and electronic payment systems. Despite all this cash handling is still a sensitive issue at bank branches.

Many branches in those days (around 1980) were working in two shifts, for the convenience of customers mostly in residential areas. Branches in market and industrial areas were working between 10 AM to 5 PM with business hours up to 2 PM. Residential area branches were working in two shifts; say 8.30 AM to 12 Noon and again from 4.30 PM to 7.30 PM. Business hours in such branches was restricted to first two hours in each session, say 8.30 AM to 10.30 AM and again from 4.30 PM to 6.30 PM. These branches worked for half a day (morning session) on Sundays and had holidays on Mondays. This was the general pattern of working hours with margins of half an hour on either side. These timings were convenient to working people and housewives as they could finish their banking transactions before going to office or in the evening free time. It also suited many staff members for various reasons. Bank managements were also considerate in posting staff in these branches. A small allowance titled "Split Duty Allowance" was also paid to the staff members to compensate travel to the branch one more time each day. 

Customer inflow (Footfall is the word used used for this nowadays) used to be high in such branches in the first hour in the morning and last hour in the evening. Staff were keen to finish the work and go home as early as possible in the evening. Transport facilities were not this advanced then. Of course, there were not such traffic jams as well. Finishing work was relatively easy in other sections as some things could be carried over to the next day. But not so in cash department as all the prescribed steps had to be completed before the cash is closed for the day and stored in the strong room. Head Cashier and Cash in-charge were the last people to leave the branch in the evening.

A customer bringing large amount of cash, that too in small denominations, was like a Red Rag before the Cashier Bull. There would be some violent exchanges. The intensity depended on the nature of both the customer and the cashier and the chemistry between them. In one of the branches where I was working as Assistant Manager and Cash-in-charge, there used to be a small exchange between the cashier and some customers almost every day. A mother does not always interfere when her small children have fights at home. She keeps a watch and interferes only when the fight tends to go out of control and one of the kids is likely to be injured. I had followed the same policy. Things were working out fine generally, except a few occasions when some action was required to cool the frayed tempers. Branch Manager usually was away in the evenings on business development calls and not available to handle such situations.

There was one customer who always came in the evening twice a week; on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He would come just before closing time in the evening and remit large amount of cash for purchase of DDs. His appearance at the branch door would immediately create some tension for the cashier and the DD writer. DD writer would manage to find the amount and prepare the DD in advance, place it on my table and go home. But cashier did not have this luxury. He had to receive, count and close the cash systematically. One Saturday evening things went out of control. "You are always late. You bring large amount of cash and always in small denominations. Why can't you come early? Why don't you bring high denomination notes?  You are always making my home going very late", he was telling the customer in a raised voice. The cashier was recently married. Had he been married for several years, he would have probably welcomed the idea of going home late.

There was indeed a need for interfering now. I called the customer and enquired what was the nature of his business. He was the proprietor of a Poultry Farm situate some 20 miles from our branch. He told me that Wednesday and Saturday were his collection days. He would be busy entire mornings in his farm looking after the birds, feeding them, collecting eggs and segregating broiler birds for delivery. After loading the eggs and birds into his delivery van after lunch, he would come into the city for delivering them and collecting payments for supplies made during the previous visits. This work would be over by sunset. With all the cash collections he would come to the branch, tender cash and buy DD for purchase of poultry feed for the next cycle. He had no control over the denomination of notes given by his customers. He politely said that he wants to come early, but his strict schedule does not allow him to come earlier than this.

I had a talk with the Branch Manager on the next day. I suggested that the cashier can be taken to the Poultry Farm during his next visit to enable the cashier to understand the problem of the customer. BM liked the idea and arranged for a visit to the poultry farm for the entire branch staff on a Sunday afternoon. This brought about a big change in the attitude of the cashier and the angry exchanges stopped. The customer and the cashier would greet each other now and carry on with their respective work. There was no early going for the cashier even now, but tension was reduced thereafter.

This episode gave a valuable lesson in people management at the branches. In the later years, during my field visits I took one or two staff members to the units, be they manufacturing units, trading ones or units of any other type. This brought staff at branch nearer to the customers and helped in appreciating the needs and constraints of the customers. 

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Empathy develops by seeing and experiencing things, not by mere words. People management skills are not a fixed schedule; they have to be invented and adapted depending on the given situations. Each delicate situation does indeed have some solution. These solutions have to be found by a little effort and imagination.