Display debtors names to embarrass them

Guess how a paan shop owner managed to cope with an increasing clientele who promised took credit from him and delayed paying up their bills? He had to keep his business alive and so could not discourage the credit culture that accompanies buying paan. Instead the paan shop owner Md. Riyaz displayed a list with exhaustive details of the customers name, their addresses and the money they owed him under the full public glare. The outcome of his initiative was simply that… business is now resumed full swing without any money held back.  

Talking to Deccan Herald, Riyaz said: Not only have the numbers of customers who buy paan and other items on credit declined sharply; but I recovered Rs 22,000 from defaulters. Till recently creditors owed me around Rs. 40,000 and the figure was fast rising. So I had think of an innovative solution to keep my business going and my customers with me.     

Md. Riyaz categorically does not believe that his move was to offend customers.  He says: For a customer, it is a matter of small amount of money but for me it becomes a hefty amount. After all, this is my business and I have to support my family. I was compelled to take recourse to this tactic only after some creditors disappeared from the scene while others refused to mend their ways. It has indeed turned out to be fruitful for my business,” said Md. Riyaz.

After opening a paan shop on the main road of Ranchi in 1993, says Riyaz, he could not deny his regular customers out of sheer modesty even though the credit kept rising. “But I finally decided to change my business approach when many of these customers disappeared from the scene. I am not averse to offering my customers credit. But that I have made it mandatory for my customers to submit their identity cards. Believe me, after I put up the list of these people, not only the recovery of money has come quick and fast but even other people are reluctant to purchase paan or cigarettes on credit,” he said.   
The initial list, says Riyaz, prepared about two years ago contained names of about 75 defaulters. Of the 29 names now on display, six persons have died so far, while the remaining 23 have been declared fugitives.

Talking about the wisdom of displaying the names of deceased people in the list, Md. Riyaz said that it should not irk anyone. If their kith and kin can inherit the movable and immovable properties, they can also pay their debts accordingly, says Md. Riyaz.
Interestingly, the defaulters belong to Ranchi and Patna in neighbouring Bihar. A gentleman from Patna tops the list with a credit of Rs. 806.80.