Now Outsourced to India: Debt Collection
Americans aren’t the only ones eagerly awaiting the Internal Revenue Service tax rebates expected to be in the mail to many U.S. residents by the end of May. A growing number of Indians working on the other side of the world as debt collectors are also focusing in on our government’s expected largesse, too, since it may help them obtain some extra dollars on behalf of the creditors for which they work.
Outsourced debt collection is a new and rapidly increasing business in India, where modern technology gives workers everything they need to seek repayment from Americans for past-due balances. Meanwhile, companies save a bundle over what it would cost to pay U.S. workers to collect these debts, reports the New York Times.
Locals working in India for San Diego-based Encore Capital Group, for instance, make a base salary of $425 per month, on average, supplemented by bonuses of as much as $1,000 monthly, or more. (The average monthly income in India is $63.) By contrast, U.S. debt collectors make about $6,500 monthly.
And, in addition to helping creditors collect delinquent payments, Indian debt collectors, like their U.S. counterparts, can provide another potential benefit, too, the Times points out:
“Sometimes the debt is so old that the statute of limitations for filing a suit has passed, and it may already have vanished from a person’s credit report. If the debtor makes a new payment, though, the statute of limitations starts all over again.”
