SWITCHING part of the National Rail Enquiries Service (NRE) to India could improve the quality of information provided to customers, its chief executive told MPs yesterday.
Chris Scoggins, NRE chief executive, told the Commons Transport Select Committee that the results of a pilot project in Bangalore reinforced the company's belief that outsourcing work to India could enhance the service.
He said: "So far, it has been very successful. The quality is as good as, or in some cases better than, the quality of our existing service."
He told MPs that in addition to the results of the pilot project, the company's research, an exploratory visit earlier this year and advice from industry experts, had all indicated the accuracy of information provided to customers could be enhanced by placing work in India.
He said that in India, call centre work was relatively highly paid and attracted very high quality staff.
He said that a maximum of 50 per cent of work would be outsourced abroad.
Committee member Brian Donohoe, Labour MP for Cunninghame South, said that in his constituency the average salary in a call centre was about £12,000, while in India it was about £2,800.
Mr Scoggins acknowledged the wage difference between India and the UK was high. He also confirmed that NRE had no policy on whether suppliers recognised trade unions.
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