Hello friends my name is dtytrivedi and today I am going to reveal you the shocking truth about a company named Speak Asia which running multi-crore scam in India.

I have spent about a month to prepare this document just to show all my fellow people the reality.

However I do admit there will be some grammatical mistakes in the report. But I will be revising the document frequently. I will also frequently update the document as I get the latest information about Speak Asia. Your suggestions are welcomed.

There are various serious issues with the Speak Asia website

First of all let me make a point, that if person earns good amount from a source that doesn’t validate the legality of the source. Infact, there are various sources in a country India where one can earn money which may not be legal.

A company may be registered have legal documents but against that doesn’t guarantee that functions it performs it to be legal. It has follow the various code conducts, norms, duties and responsibilities

For e.g Marriot five star Hotel which was given close notice in Ahmedabad 3rd of april 2011 because it was lacking safety norms http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-03/ahmedabad/29377038_1_fire-safety-safety-norms-fire-department.

The following are the points against the website

1. Claims : The company makes the claim ‘ Speak Asia - Asia’s Largest Survey Group’ on what basis it has made it claims. Even in about us section it mentions the same but there is no claim verification.

For e.g Revital brand of Ranbaxy is #1 brand in vitamins and supplements category in India according Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands in India.

2. Presence limited to India and Bangladesh:When you check speak Asia website through Alexa which is the web information company you will come to know that its presence is mainly from India and Bangladesh.

So its claim that being largest Integrated Market research in Asia itself is questionable.

Snap shot taken as on 15/5/2011http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/speakasiaonline.com#

3. Credentials: Another serious concern is that being Asia’s largest Survey group, on behalf of which companies it is conducting such surveys. Why it is not declaring some of the results which it has derived from the surveys.

Why it is not disclosing findings and the findings of the consumer surveys?

Why it is not showing how it is using the findings which it is deriving from these surveys?

Why there is no presence of it in Market research and business Intelligence industry if it is the largest survey group in Asia?

Why it is not having any associations with any multinationals or Market Research body (reputed) or any non profit organisation or any global organisation like UNICEF, World Bank, IFC etc

Why it is not showing any detail report or snap shot of any industry regarding what are the recent trends, opportunities, brand preference of consumer, which brand is famous?

What makes me more curious is that claiming being no.1 in Asia’s survey group it doesn’t even show its findings of even a single a country

Moreover it does not even tell to whom it is reporting (Market research organisations or multinationals or any other organisations). It fails to prove the purpose of these surveys.

The website even fails to show that who are its clients so one can atleast get some idea how credible its research methodology is. Please go through the client list of Brain Juicer which is one of the innovative market research firms.

http://www.brainjuicer.com/#/STREAM/CLIENTQUOTES/1272-Client-Quotes some of its key clients are Unilever, Philips, Nestle, Mcdonalds, HTC, Kraft, MGM, Johnson & Johnson, Sara-Lee, Coca-Cola and many others.

It looks more like in the name of the surveys it just doing business of money circulation

Kindly go through the website of some companies which I have mentioned below; these are well-known in market research and in business intelligence,

AC nielson: http://in.nielsen.com/site/index.shtml and please go through its sections of the company, news and trends and Insights.

Besides this, it shows the news according of various countries below ‘Nielson Worldwide’.

Mintel: http://www.mintel.com/Mintel is an independent award-winning provider of world-leading market intelligence, delivering robust information, analysis and critical recommendations. Mintel's trusted portfolio of proprietary industry solutions and products has been supporting high profile clients in key sectors such as FMCG, financial services, media, retail, leisure and education for over 38 years.

Enterprise surveys: http://www.enterprisesurveys.org/ provides the world's most comprehensive company-level data in emerging markets and developing economies. Suppoted by International Finance corporation and World Bank.

Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands Asia: http://www.rdasiatrustedbrands.com/2010/2010main.html

ABOUT THIS SURVEY

Reader's Digest Asia Trusted Brands Survey was launched in 1999. It is conducted annually and is now in its 12th year. The survey identifies which brands appeal most to Asian consumers.

Achieving Trusted Brands status is a genuine recognition of consumers' approval. The survey reflects consumers' choice of their most trusted and favourite brands among the thousands available in the market.

This survey is carried out for Reader's Digest by Synovate in 8 markets:

Hong Kong India China Malaysia the Philippines Singapore Taiwan Thailand

GOLD AND PLATINUM TRUSTED BRAND AWARDS

Survey respondents are asked to name their most trusted brand in each of the product categories, and then to give each brand they name a rating, from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), on six qualitative criteria: Trustworthiness & Credibility, Quality, Value, Understanding of Customer Needs, Innovative and Social Responsibility. Each brand then receives a mathematical score based on the number of respondents who named it, multiplied by the average rating on the six qualitative criteria.

Brands which score clearly above competitors receive a Gold Trusted Brand Award. Most Trusted Brand Award winners receive Gold status.

Brands with scores more than three times that of their competitor, or with a score at least double of their nearest competitor and an average rating of at least 4 points (out of a possible 5) on the qualitative criteria, receive a Platinum Trusted Brand Award.

4. No explanation regarding the procedure and integrity of the research methodology.

Another annoying part which I came to know that it hardly mentions regarding its research methodology, go through link below

http://www.speakasiaonline.com/theconcept.aspx

It merely explains what surveys, need for it and its importance for companies. It annoys me that claiming the largest survey group has not even briefly shown its research methodology.

Here is the classic example of one well known business intelligence provider Euromonitor International. Please go through its research methodology http://www.euromonitor.com/research-methodology

5. Not having their own email id for contact!!!!

This is simply shocking that it merely provides its contact number and no email for correspondence.......

Even if they show suggestion box it’s still not a good sign for authentic company.

6. No Mention of its core focus areas:

As a Market research firm it should atleast mention that what are its key focus areas regarding which sector/ market/ industry it is targeting. There is no mention of any such thing.

Take a look at TNS Global’s Industry focus http://www.tnsglobal.com/market-research/

When I saw some of its survey it seemed to be random surveys generated which were baseless. A survey should be backed by the purpose.

7. Not a single press release regarding their market research activities:

How it can presence in media if there are no findings in form of Press release on its research methodology survey data collections. There is not a single Press Release from the company!!!! It’s funny that being Asia’s largest Survey group and having not a single press release!!!

A press release, news release, media release, press statement or video release is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something ostensibly newsworthy.

Speak Asia is only emphasising on income opportunity. Infact Speak Asia does have press appearance when its panellist crossed 1 lakh mark on November 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejtt96j01V0&feature=related

But still my point remains the same, that despite having huge panellist and 52 surveys taken from them, why there is not a single press regarding findings of those surveys?

What is done after fulfilling those surveys? Are there any results displayed after completion of such surveys?

However you will definitely see its presence in creating panels (in other words making members which is done through recruiting) but there will be no news regarding findings of the survey.

By now I have understood that in our country we can misuse the media power easily in order to influence people.

Here some press news in Hindi regarding Speak Asia which focuses on numbers of panellists it is recruiting and benefits which they are given.

http://www.amarujala.com/city/gorakhpur/Gorakhpur-16655-67.html Company established on February 2010 and commenced its business on May 2010 in India. Some key Achievements includes (the news was published on 1/04/2011

1. UP has crossed 3 lakh mark panellist.2. Gorakhpur itself has 26000 panellist3. Overall panellist in India till date is 7.5 lakh. (Just imagine that in 11 months

it has registered 7.50 lakhs!!!!)4. The company is saying that by the end of this year it will cross 10 lakh mark5. It has future planning of 1 crore panellist.6. But no news regarding survey findings which it conducts weekly.

http://www.divyahimachal.com/himachal-market/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D %E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%95-%E0%A4%8F%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%8F%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%80-%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%87-%E0%A4%AC/ Speak Asia plans to open Shopping Mall

http://ranchiexpress.com/71064.php Speak Asia enters in Ranchi http://www.patrika.com/news.aspx?id=539028 Speak Asia enters in Madhya

Pradesh News regarding lucknow

1. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMo2NOEGwI/ AAAAAAAAAD4/gEvnFTm07JU/s1600/speak+asiaTarun_Mitra_Lucknow.jpg Lucknow tops in speak Asia in Tarun Mitra News

2. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMoRhIGtsI/AAAAAAAAAD0/ o88hddiCUkk/s1600/speak+asia+Voice_of_Lucknow_Lucknow.jpg Voice of Lucknow, Lucknow tops in speak Asia.

3. http://speakasiaonlineindia.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-post_1892.html swatantra Bharat

4. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMlz7esc6I/AAAAAAAAADo/ SPzXcH7YXxU/s1600/SPEAK+ASIA+Rashtriya_Swaroop_Lucknow.jpg Rashtriya swaroop News

5. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMjGtl_lkI/AAAAAAAAADg/ RX1_pKngsYM/s1600/SPEAK+ASIA+Rashtriya_Sahara_Lucknow.jpg Rashtriya Sahara

6. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMgTWo4UTI/ AAAAAAAAADY/VH_745yHwwo/s1600/speak+asia+Pioneer_Lucknow.jpg Pioneer Lucknow

7. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMe2TuNNVI/ AAAAAAAAADU/CvEvovQm7zA/s1600/Speak+Asia+online+Spasht_Aawaz_Lucknow.jpg Rashtriya Awaz

8. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMbTHAaKMI/ AAAAAAAAADE/3pKf4gcNxQU/s1600/speak+asia+AAJ+Lucknow.jpg AAJ news

9. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMaiggGH-I/AAAAAAAAADA/ st4D35YUR6c/s1600/speak+asia+AAG+Lucknow.jpg AAG news

10. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMcawEEKBI/AAAAAAAAADI/ eTovzSe8Orw/s1600/speak+asia+Awadhnama+Lucknow.jpg Awadhnama

11. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMdX870qPI/ AAAAAAAAADM/NJAS6hszWQA/s1600/speak+asia+Daily_News_Activist_Lucknow.jpg Daily News Activist

12. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gxkEWWY3w9s/TTMeFkLdevI/AAAAAAAAADQ/ ARKj8j4v4uQ/s1600/speak+asia+Hindustan+Lucknow.jpg Hindustan times

13. The hindu: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2006051.eceIndian Express : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/speak-asia-eyes-10-mn-panelist-base/788884/ Economic Times: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-10/news/29528229_1_market-research-vivek-gautam-surveys: Speak Asia eyes for 10 million mark in the end of the Dec 2011 !!!! As on Month of May 2011 it has crossed 1 million mark.

http://www.divyahimachal.com/himachal-market/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D %E0%A4%AA%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%95-%E0%A4%8F%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%87-%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%80-%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AC-%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%87/ speak asia now enters in Punjab

However there are few news agencies which are doing their job with integrity. Please go through the link below regarding news against Speak Asia:

1. http://www.livenewsvideos.com/article.aspx?id=356 from now Month of April the joining fee is Rs 15000!!!

2. http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/9864.html Another scam happening in the name of survey

3. http://moneylife.in/article/speakasia-still-cant-show-valid-legal- documents/15551.html Speak Asia fails to show the legal and valid documents.

4. http://www.moneylife.in/article/cheaters-in-paradise-true-lies-of- speakasias-goa-bash/16321.html Cheaters in paradise: True lies of Speak Asia's Goa bash

5. http://www.moneylife.in/article/competition-heats-up-in-online-survey- space-with-the-entry-of-domestic-mlm-companies/15827.html Competition heats up in online surveyspace with the entry of domestic MLM companies

6. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Another-co-goes-to-town- with-easy-money-scheme/articleshow/7523895.cms Another co goes to town with easy money scheme. Times of India

7. http://compact.amarujala.com/city/4-1-9762.html Speak Asia asks for deferment. Amar Ujala

8. http://www.amarujala.com/state/Utter-Pradesh/12343-1.html Speak Asia creates trouble for Insurance Industry sector.

9. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-09/news/ 29522950_1_survey-easy-money-unemployed-youth Things to know before making online money from online survey firms.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHU6kIkysNIstar star news revealing the Speak Asia Fraud.

11. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/video/goa-government-rbi-probe- transactions-of-speak-asia/1/138240.html The Goa government and RBI are probing the transactions of Speak Asia, which could well be a fraud.

The common thing which you will see in the newspapers is regarding number of panellists they are having, distribution of laptops and computers and claiming that there are need of 10 lakh panellist overall. But there is no information regarding findings from the weekly surveys it takes.

I URGE TO MY READERS GO THROUGH THE LINK BELOW REGARDING WHAT IS SURVEY AND READ IT CHAPTERWISE SO THAT YOU CAN GET BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF IT. IT IS AN ABSTRACT TAKEN FROM AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION. BESIDES YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD IT

http://www.whatisasurvey.info/

Take a look at Synovate Research firm’s Press release http://www.synovate.com/news/

What makes it more convincing for the general people to believe it to be real is that it generates survey on the base of some ongoing topics in India. But no one knows what is done after those surveys are filled up.

Take a look at some of the survey results which are released in press in India

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Survey mentioning that that after completion of phase 3 in 2016, the number of Metro commuters will be about 40 lakh per day — about 24 lakh more than the current figure.http://www.hindustantimes.com/Expect-better-trains-in-phase-3/Article1-688108.aspx

Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS 2010) released in Oct 2010, nearly one third of Indian population is addicted to smokeless tobacco. A large number of children and youth in India are addicted to smokeless tobacco. Depending upon the geographical areas, different names with different combinations of smokeless tobacco are marketed, such as Mawa, Khaini, Gudakhu, panni etc. All these preparations essentially have tobacco with our without supari and are well proven to be harmful for health.

Second last para in the news

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_ban-smokeless-tobacco-products_1534707

CoolAvenues.com an MBA community portal: between 2006 and 2011the number of students from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, participating in placements went up from 240 to 365, while the number of recruiting companies increased from 102 to 206. Appeared in Live Mint Newshttp://www.livemint.com/2011/04/21225828/BSchools--A-placement-report.html?h=B

http://www.coolavenues.com/mba-placements/2011/coolavenues-placement-survey/mint-coolavenuescom-b-school-annual-placements-2011

Corruption in Karnataka: One-third of youths in Karnataka see rampant corruption in the government and frustratingly limited opportunities as the state's top problems. Young men in rural Karnataka feel more discriminated than young women in cities. Nine of 10 youngsters take pride in being Kannadigas. Reducing poverty levels and inequality is what most youths want to change. Despite privatisation and globalisation, six of 10 youths prefer a sarkari job, because of the security it offers.

These are the key findings of the first government-funded study on perceptions, aspirations, expectations and attitudes of Karnataka youth. Commissioned by the Karnataka Knowledge Commission, Jain University's Centre for Research in Social Sciences and Education surveyed nearly 9,000 persons between 18 and 34 years across 150 assembly constituencies of Karnataka to figure out their priorities. A copy of the findings was made exclusively available to Times of Indiahttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Corruption-rankles-youth-survey/articleshow/8062572.cms

Food inflation survey: RBI survey vs. Speak Asia surveyThis is one of the classic examples of how useless the surveys of Speak Asia are. The link below is the video uploaded regarding survey of Food Inflation. The Survey was taken on 5/01/2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyygPrRP0U8

In Market Research when you survey to a more than 1lac people it becomes very credible source of information. But the drawback is that you will need hundreds of experts for gathering such information, analysing it and preparing the report on findings and giving conclusions and recommendations. Take the look at RBI Survey of Inflation. Check the link below

http://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/Bulletin/PDFs/01ARTB090411.pdf

As you can see that it had surveyed 4000 urban households which is 25 times smaller than 100000 panellist base of Speak Asia. However you must knowing that the panellist numbers had already crossed 100000 mark in late of 2010. By this month of April 2011 it must have crossed 150000 marks.

The findings of RBI were published in various news papers, here are some of thosehttp://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-04-12/news/29409961_1_rbi-survey-food-inflation-tame-inflation . Economic times

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/households-expect-high-inflation-to-stay-says-rbi-survey/1/14727.html. Business TodayFinancial Express

I am definitely confident that you will raise many doubts on Speak Asia after having looked on these surveys. What is done after of these surveys are filled up?

8. Way of conducting surveys:

This is the most ridiculous way of conducting the surveys. Why one would need pay amount of Rs 11,500 for filling up the survey?

Even if it says that it will give extra buck for referring a person then why not without investment? (I will elaborate about this issue later in 8th Lack of Transparency in compensation system )

When you look closer to the income potential in the surveys is through referring a person because he will pay Rs 11,500 for becoming participant.

Another point is that a market research always limited number of respondents for taking survey.

When you look closer to the income potential and income distribution it would be from investment of newly recruited person.

Besides this a person can have nine subpanels and two to three accounts which will help him to increase the frequency of surveys and incentive of helping the downline by filling up surveys. A subpanel is purchased (by paying 11000) so that he can increase the survey frequency and an Account is purchased i.e. a person can also keep himself as its own downline. This will help to increase his income but what from the multinationals point of view. From them its fraud, because a survey can be duplicated upto 11 to 12 times i.e a person can fill the same survey 11 to 12 times so what is the authenticity of such survey? What would be importance of such surveys to Multinationals who are ready to spend millions on money getting insights on latest trends in their target consumers?

I am sure you can judge how credible the survey would be. What would be the importance of such surveys even if it gives it for free?

Let’s us examine the paragraph as shown in Speak Asia website regarding why Companies would reward the Surveys?

“ In the past, organizations employed market research firms to conduct surveys for their products and services. These agencies, in turn, hired marketing executives who acted as an interface to the prospects. In spite of investing their precious time, these prospects got little

or no reimbursements for their valuable opinion. But now, things have changed. We, at Speak Asia, have created a paradigm shift in research by eliminating the need of executives for conducting surveys. We pass on this benefit directly to prospective customer’s like you. All you need to do is, give us your valuable opinion. And get rewarded. Big Time!

http://www.speakasiaonline.com/theconcept.aspx

My point is how can an opinion would be valuable for a company If it is duplicated upto 11 to 12 timesIf filling the surveys become secondary and earning income becomes primary. Infact incentives are also given to fill up such survey which is good incentive but this increases more chances of duplication. In exceptional cases when the downline somehow is unable to fill the survey then that can be filled by his upline (the who sponsored) by getting is username and password. This increases chances of duplication more. If Incentives are given on filling surveys and not on honestly filling surveys. What will be meaning of those findings derived from such surveys.If total benefit of market research is given to customers (respondents or panellists). This is utterly foolish, Market research is a long process and survey is one of the important parts of the process but surveying cannot be termed as Market Research. If the company not sure whether survey filled is honest or not. Infact one can just tick the replies randomly and finish it off.

According to Philip Kotler “Marketing research process is a systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific situation facing the company”. 1st para page 88, Marketing Management

http://books.google.com/books?id=KN6PqQMnFBAC&pg=PA89&dq=market+research+definition+kotler&hl=en&ei=PheiTYmyA8jprAfMluTrAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

Please read further to get idea of the research process.

Here is a typical flow chart of market research process

As far as my point is concerned the respondents’ role falls only in one step which would be Survey part. The rest of the other important parts should be handled by market research firm; it cannot be done by Consumers.

Before taking survey it is important to define the sampling that is to determine how many respondents (or panellist) to interview and belonging from which place or states to interview. You can’t go on increasing the numbers otherwise it would be costly affair for the company as they have to bare these expenses. What makes me intrigued that Speak Asia is having too much respondents’ base (or Panellist base) which takes months to conclude and prepare a report on it after data has collected.

For understanding more about sampling go the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(statistics)

Some key reasons sampling and sampling procedures are carried out for the purpose are representing data of population for e.g. India and to prevent bias (partiality).

After survey filling there are various steps which are required to be done in order to bring some conclusions of the survey. After taking surveys from the respondents (or panellists) data

gathering, processing and analysis of the data i.e. to check and filter the unwanted errors and after that preparing a report on it and drawing conclusions.

Besides this, the report should also mention possible limitations of the report.

The process which I have mentioned above requires various expertise who have profound knowledge in statistics and various related fields.

A classic example would be ‘Global Adult Tobacco Survey’ (GATS 2010)

Aim of Survey: To carry out survey in 29 states of India regarding tobacco (read the Introduction part)

Sample size: 8000 respondents

This link is Appendix of 80 page please go through it so that you will get some idea regarding how report is prepared. Besides the report was of 289 pages just image how the report and how much technical expertise it would require to make the report.

http://www.whoindia.org/en/Section20/Section25_1861.htm

For details regarding sampling, questionnaire part, expertise staffshttp://whoindia.org/LinkFiles/Tobacco_Free_Initiative_GATS2010_Chapter-11_References.pdfFor questionnaire view page 243-283 of reportFor expertise staff view page 239-241 of reportFor Sample design view page 211-218 of report

The report findings were published in news also. http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_ban-smokeless-tobacco-products_1534707

Now can you think that market research process can be handled by consumers?

Speak Asia is fooling consumers, if it says that it is doing something new by taking online surveys and giving incentives. It is saying that it has created “paradigm shift” by taking such an initiative http://www.speakasiaonline.com/theconcept.aspx

Online survey is just one of the type of surveys please check this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_survey

There is no shift from executives to consumers just changing the survey type for data collection.

Infact nothing is new, Speak Asia is just running Money circulation scheme and pyramid schemes where one gets more benefit on recruiting panels as they get from the investment paid by new panellists. This is something recent issues in marketing research which has tarnished its reputation.

http://books.google.com/books?id=GqCVnz0mpdUC&pg=PA125&dq=paid+surveys&hl=en&ei=GyGiTbvGAojLrQeMppGAAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=paid%20surveys&f=false page 125.

My point is that, is it feasible for companies to give millions of rupees to consumers just for filling online survey?

Online survey methods is having some serious limitations which prevents many major corporations to spend their revenues on it. Please go through the link below:Page 404

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=BJil19CAGQwC&pg=PA404&dq=online+surveys&hl=en&ei=BZCiTcsIjrKsB9nvqYMD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=5&ved=0CFsQ6wEwBA#v=onepage&q=online%20surveys&f=false

9. Unsustainable compensation system:

The company fails to show that how it is able to give http://www.speakasiaonline.com/compensation.aspx

When you go the link mentioned above it says that one can become premium panellist by investing Rs 11,500 ($220) so that person can become premium member. So he/she will be get 52 weekly subscriptions for a year. Filling up each weekly subscription of survey will earn him/her $20 i.e Rs 1000 for a week so Rs 52,000 a year (for 52 subscriptions).

From the above equation it can be said that the person will earn 4.52 times more than his investment at the end of 52nd subscription.

Now let’s assume that it has 1lac members for the sake of simplicity. So the revenue collection would be :

11000* 1,00,000 = Rs1,100,000,000 for a year.

And the recent scenario is that it has 1,500,000 members in 12 months as shown in recent news of the hindu, Indian Express and Economic Times.

So just in 12 months the revenue collected by Speak Asia is 16,500,000,000

Atleast one should know that how can a company can accumulate huge revenue without knowing whether it is providing goods or service to its clients or not?

Besides this it promises to give 4.72 times (i.e. 52,000 per person) of 11,000 provided if panelist fills 52 weekly surveys for a year in time.

Each weekly survey will earn him (panelist) Rs 1000 so he will reach break-even point by 11th week and after that will be surplus.

What is more astonishing is that the amount becomes huge when company gives 52,000 to its 1,500,000 panelist. The amount would be Rs 78,000,000,000 that is 4.72 times of what the panelists have invested.

The interesting point here is that from where that surplus amount will come from?

Here is the equation Speak Asia has to solve.

If it gives Rs 500 to a panelist for a survey so for 15 lakhs people it will give Rs 750,000,000 per survey (75 crores). Speak Asia takes such two surveys per week which makes Rs 1,000,000,000 per subscription (150 crores). And it is taking 52 such surveys in a year which makes it Rs 52,000,000,000. (Rs 7,800 crores)

So for a Company’s point of view, Buying cost of one survey will cost them 750,000,000 (Rs 75 crores).

My point is that can any company afford to waste such big amount where it knows that a survey can be filled by a person upto 11 times( nine times by buying subpanels and 2 times by buying accounts).

Can it prove that the price which it is providing is one of the cost effective by comparing with others?

Definitely the cost of the survey is bound to go up from Rs 75 crores to Rs 750 crores when the number of panelist will reach 1 crore from 15 lakhs which it is already expecting by this year end.

Can Speak Asia show that which are its clients who are buying the survey reports from them?

The Answer is BIG NO

So from where it arranges such amount for its panelist? The answer is from its recruitment.

Speak Asia charges 11,000 for a person to buy its subscription of 52 survey which will give taken weekly basis and each survey will earn him 1,000.

The company has 11 weeks time in order to make arrangement for the remaining 41 surveys.

But when you look at the compensation of it is more of recruitment based and that also if left and right side are matched will earn him $20 per pair. And when you see the trend of numbers of panelists recruiting in the last 10 months it is increasing way.

For e.g. On May 2010 it commenced its operations and it took about 7 months to recruit 1lakh panelists but in last 5 months the number has gone up 9 lakhs.

And it takes recruiting about 5.42 people in a year for speak Asia in order to compensate 52 weekly subscriptions. This is the breakeven point of Speak Asia. The break even ratio for Speak Asia is 1: 5.42

Here’s the calculation.

When a person recruits he will pay 11,000 and when he recruits 6 people the company will get 11,000 + 66,000 = 77,000. When even after giving 52,000 of 52 subscriptions Rs 25,000 is left which is more than sufficient to give other fringe benefits of pair bonus and helping the downline bonus for filling the survey.

When you look at the pair bonus i.e. recruiting one on left side and one on right side, it will take 22,000 for a panelist in order to get benefit of Rs 1000.So in this case if he recruits 6 people under him by 1:1 ratio on left and right leg then he will get Rs 3000 bonus. For helping his immediate sponsor for filling the survey the company just needs Rs 150 per week. So in this case as it is a binary plan a premium panelist will get Rs 300 per week which is Rs 15600 for 52 subscriptions. You can see that still Rs 6,400 is left after deducting the incentives. This shows that 77,000 – (52,000 + 15,600 + 3000) = 6400. So break-even amount will be 77,000 – 6,400 = 70400.

Now when you divide that amount 70,400 by 11 you will get 6.42. (70,400 includes 11,000 of the investment of the person himself).

So break even ratio is 1:5.42. i.e when person enters into this scheme, he has to recruit atleast 5.42 people (more than 5 people in a year). Or in other words for every 100 people, 542 people in a year.

After that point speak Asia just has to give pair bonus which is just 4.5% of the investment of the pair and that also is subject to a condition where he maintains the 1:1 ratio on left and right side.

We can also that for speak Asia to sustain its business model it has to maintain 542% growth in recruitment every year atleast.

Below is a summarized table regarding recruitment in a year and recruitment needed to break even for speak Asia in a year

recruitments in year break-even for a year 1

5.42

10

54

100

542

1,000

5,420

100,000

542,000

750,000

4,065,000

1,000,000

5,420,000

10,000,000

54,200,000

60,000,000

325,200,000

As you can see from the table above,

100,000 mark was achieved by speak asia in Nov 2010 that is 6 months from its business commencement and in next four months only it registered other 650,000 people and in the end of eight months the figure of recruitment has increased exponentially.

But as the number of recruitment would increase it would be even tougher for Speak Asia to sustain its speed of 542 % growth, ultimately it will go down. It is relatively easy enroll people 1 lakh, and 7.5 lakhs but when it reaches 10 lakh and above it becomes tougher to sustain same rate of growth of recruitment.

Take this case, if Speak Asia from may 2010 to may 2011 it has recruited about 15 lakh people so it can be said that on an average monthly it is recruiting 125,000 per month. But after that it becomes much tougher for speak Asia it has recruit 542% more from 15 lakh which means recruit other 54.20 lakh people in next year. So on average it has to recruit 452,500 people per month to recruit as a panelist (it also includes newly people enrolled and renewal of subscription of current panelist) in order to sustain its recruitment business model.

There is one option which Speak Asia opted is to increase subscription cost. Infact from the month of April the subscription cost will be Rs 15,000. By making this move it will have to make less efforts in sustaining its business compared with previous one. Company will now need only 1 (the person himself) + 3.64 people to reach break-even stage. In other words when 100 people recruits as panelists, it will have to recruit 364 people in order to compensate those 100 people in a year to reach break-even. This also means it has to maintain 362% growth in recruiting people in a year provided if it charges Rs 15000 for its subscription.

But still Company will not be able to maintain this growth rate as it is not possible to sustain it on yearly basis.

Take a look at the chart below:

year recruitments in year break-even for a year

1 1,000,000

3,620,000

2 3,620,000

13,104,400

3 60,000,000

217,200,000

4 217,200,000

786,264,000

5 786,264,000

2,846,275,680

Clearly you can that company may sustain first year from may 2010 to May 2011 but I doubt for 2nd year. Even if thrives for 2nd year but it is practically impossible to thrive for the third year.

There is also one serious drawback of this compensation system. The more it recruits in a year the more it will become difficult for subsequent years for them to thrive its business.

Take the example below

yearrecruitments in year break-even recruitments for a year

1 1,000,000 3,620,000

2 1,500,000 5,430,000

3 10,000,000 36,200,000

4 12,000,000 43,440,000

(Assuming subscription cost is Rs 15000)

As you look in the table above, look at the section of break-even for year. So when the company performs more than break-even for e.g. recruiting 40,000,000 then for the next year it has to recruit 3.62 times more of that figure.

Current scenario is that it has enrolled 1,500,000 million people in a year so it must recruit 5,430,000 in order to make its model sustainable!!!!!!

As per my prediction it proved to be right, it publicly announced that it will reach 10 million mark (1 crore) by the end of Dec 2011. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/speak-asia-eyes-10-mn-panelist-base/788884/

Now let’s assume that till April 2012 it reaches 12 million mark (1.2 crore). Again in next year it will have to recruit atleast 362% more i.e. enroll atleast 43.44 million (4.344 crore) in order to break-even.

So even If speak Asia makes it for the year 2011 May to 2012 April. But can it can recruit 43.44 million people in the next year? To me this would be the end of Speak Asia!!!!

Even if a person thinks that he buys subscription or subscriptions just for filling survey then also there are more likely chances that company can pay them for each survey because it can adjust easily from the recruitment of the other person who are joining around the Indian country. It doesn’t matter for the company whether a person enrolls the people or not because people from the other parts of India are enrolling so it can easily trade off from their investment.

What if the company trade off the subscription part from the income from the filled survey?

One of the best ways to check the legality of the business is to ask them that to deduct the subscription cost from the income of the survey.

It doesn’t make any difference to the panelist as in both the case whether he pays subscription amount or that amount is deducted from the income of the survey it will take 15 weeks to recover the subscription amount. (provided that the subscription cost is Rs15000).

10.Illegal scheme and pyramid scheme

Speak Asia online is a pyramid scheme and money circulation scheme because when you look at the compensation system the larger benefit is in enrolling people. If you refer to its compensation plan slide 21http://www.slideshare.net/flowingriver/compensation-speak-asia and its website

Where it says

“Direct income – you will get 10 reward points for standard panel / sub panel and 20 reward points for premium panel / sub panel referred personally.Team bonus 1– The Team Bonus-1 income is based on the Referral Points generated through the induction of panelist in each Team. A incentive of 20 Reward Points is released whenever you have 200 Referral points in the left team and 200 Referral points in the right team, which is also known as one pair.

Daily ceiling for team bonus-1 is 20 pairs (400 Reward points).

“Team bonus 2 - Whenever you and your team add sub-panels, additional Referral points are generated in your team for team bonus-2 income. Team bonus-2 compensation plan is a table binary which enables you huge income from existing team.”

Sr No.

Left team sub-panel Referral points

Right team sub-panel Referral points

Sub-Panel Referral match points

Incentives paid(Reward points)

1 400 400 400 40

2 800 800 800 80

3 1600 1600 1600 160

4 3200 3200 3200 320

5 6400 6400 6400 640

6 12800 12800 12800 1,280

7 25600 25600 25600 2,560

8 51200 51200 51200 5,120

Reward Point = US$ 1 = Rs. 50http://www.speakasiaonline.com/compensation.aspx

As you can see that maximum benefit is in enrolling people which is defined illegal in context of Indian Law. According PRIZE CHITS AND MONEY CIRCULATION SCHEMES (BANNING ) ACT, 1978

An Act to ban the promotion or conduct of prize and money circulation schemes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

1. Short title and extent - (1)This Act may be called the Prize Chits and Money Circualtion Schemes (Banning () Act, 1978.

(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir 2. Definitions:In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(a) Conventional chit means a transaction whether called chit, chit fund, kuri or by any other name by or under which a person responsible for the conduct of the chit enters into an agreement with a specified number of persons that every one of them shall subscribe a certain sum of money (or certain quantity of grain instead) by way of periodical instalments for a definite period and that each such subscriber shall, in his turn as determined by lot or by action or by tender or in such other manner as may be provided for in the chit agreement, be entitled to a prize amount.

Explanation: In this clause ‘prize amount’ shall mean the amount, by whatever name called, arrived by deducting from out of the total amount paid or payable at each instalment by all the subscribers-

(i) the commission charged as service charges as a promoter or a foreman or an agent, and

(ii) any sum which a subscriber agrees to forego, from out of the total subscriptions of each installment, in consideration of the balance being paid to him.

(b) money includes a cheque, postal order, demand draft , telegraphic transfer or money order.

(c) Money circulation scheme means any scheme, by whatever name called, for the making of quick or easy money , or for the receipt of any money or valuable thing as the consideration for a promise to pay money, on any event or contingency relative or applicable to the enrollment of members into the scheme, whether or not such money or thing is derived from the entrance money of the members of such schemes or periodical subscriptions:-

(d) prescribed means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(e) Prize chit includes any transaction or arrangement by whatever name called under which a person collects whether as a promoter, foreman, agent or in any other capacity, monies in one lumpsum or in installments by way of contributions or subscriptions or by sale of units, certificates or other instruments or in any other manner or as membership fees or admission fees or service charges to or in respect of any savings, mutual benefit, thrift, or any other scheme or arrangement by whatever name called, and utilizes the monies so collected or any part thereof or the income accruing from investment or other use of such monies for all or any of the following purposes namely:

(i) giving or awarding periodically or otherwise to a specified number of subscribers as determined by lot , draw or in any other manner, prize or gifts in cash or in kind, whether or not the receipient of the prize or gifts is under a liability to make any futher payment in respect of such scheme or arrangement. (

ii) refunding to the subscribers or such of them as have not won any prize or gift, the whole or part of the subscriptions, contributions or other monies collected, with or without any bonus, premium, interest or other advantage by whatever name called, on the termination of the scheme or arrangement, or on or after the expiry of the period stipulated therin, but does not include a conventional chit;

3. Banning of prize chit and money circulation schemes or enrolment as members or participation therein. No person shall promote or conduct any prize chit or money circulation scheme, or enrol as a member to any such chit or scheme, or

4. Penalty for contravening the provisions of section 3. Whoever contravenes the provisions of section 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both: Provided that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgment of the court, the imprisonment shall not be less than one year and the fine shall not be less than one thousand rupees.

5. Penalty for other offences in connection with prize chits or money circulation schemes. Whoever, with a view to the promotion or conduct of any prize chit or money circulation scheme in contravention of the provisions of this Act or in connection with any chit or scheme promoted or conducted as aforesaid,-

(a) prints or publishes any ticket, coupon or other document for use in the prize chit or money circulation scheme; or

(b) sells or distributes or offers or advertises for sale or distribution, or has in his possession for the purpose of sale or distribution any ticket, coupon or other document for use in the prize chit or money circulation scheme; or

(c) prints, publishes or distributes, or has in his possession for the purpose of publication or distribution-

(i) Circulation scheme; or

(ii) the prize chit or money circulation scheme; or

(iii) relating to the prize chit or money circulation scheme. as is calculated to act as an inducement to persons to participate in that prize chit or money circulation scheme or any other prize chit or money circulation scheme; or

(d) brings, or invites any person to send, for the purpose of sale or distribution, any ticket, coupon or other document for use

in a prize chit or money circulation scheme or any advertisement of such prize chit or money circulation scheme; or

(e) uses any premises, or causes or knowingly permits any premises to be used, for purposes connected with the promo- tion or conduct of the prize chit or money circulation scheme; or

(f) causes or procures or attempts to procure any person to do any of the above- mentioned acts, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to three thousand rupees, or with both: Provided that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be mentioned in the judgment of the court, the imprisonment shall not be less than one year and the fine shall not be less than one thousand rupees.

6. Offences by companies. has been committed by a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: Provided that nothing contained in this sub- section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

(2) an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or conniv- ance of, or is attributable to, any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation- For the purposes of this section-

(a) " company" means anybody corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and

(b) " director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

http://chitfund.delhigovt.nic.in/prize_act1978_index.htm

http://www.indiankanoon.org/doc/1621737/

Please refer the highlighted part

Infact the Speak Asia survey is running pyramid scheme in the name of multi-level marketing. And Pyramid scheme is banned in many countries and it is illegal to carry out such activities.

The main essence of the pyramid scheme is one will more benefit in enrolment of people in its business. Its money circulations scheme where one benifits only others are enrolling in the business.

Here are some of the countries and their respective links regarding pyramid scheme and legitimate multi-level marketing

The problem is that majority of Indians don’t know what is mlm and pyramid scheme.

1. Singapore: http://app.mti.gov.sg/default.asp?id=5672. Ireland: http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Scams/Pyramid%20Schemes/3. Malaysia: http://www.dsam.org.my/dsam/industry/what-is-pyramid-selling/4. US Securities and exchange commission: http://www.sec.gov/answers/pyramid.htm5. Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.shtm6. Federal bureau of Investigation (FBI) : http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/fraud

view last section7. European Union

http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/fair_bus_pract/ucp_en.pdf page 4

8. European Commission http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cons_int/safe_shop/door_sell/door02_en.pdf

9. Competition Bureau of Canada on MLM and pyramid schemes http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03035.html#marketing_plan

10. China http://tradeinservices.mofcom.gov.cn/en/b/2005-08-23/24294.shtml

10. Speak Asia Touts:

http://www.slideshare.net/flowingriver/compensation-speak-asia

Following are the points which Speak Asia mentions as a its key strength:

1. Ethical Organization with reputed clientele base: As from above you will understand why I object it. Because Speak Asia has not even shown a single clients on its clients list. When you compare with the other market research organizations you will clearly see the difference

2. Backed by ‘certificate of good standing’ by Singapore authorities:

Well I am damn sure that most people don’t what does it actually mean. According to Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority it just proves that the company is in existence in Singapore and it is still live in their corporate register. It has nothing to do with any ethical, corporate or performance excellence.

http://www.acra.gov.sg/Quick+Links/Purchase_of_Information/Certificate+of+Good+Standing.htm

And currently when I checked the status of Speak Asia in Singapore from 21st April 2011 till 12th May 2011 it showed me that it was not eligible :

https://www.psi.gov.sg/NASApp/tmf/TMFServlet?app=MYBIZFILE-COMPL-CERT&gotoPage=COMPLIANCEAMGDETAIL&lnkCoNo=200618809D&lnkCertStatus=N&lnkType=Company&lnkCoStName=UBI%20CRESCENT&lnkStatus=Live&page=RCBBIZCONAMELSTNEW&navTransList=Y&index=1&S=7455f9817d8130ffffffffd3d893ecd33d777&D=&prn_userid=MYBIZFILE-COMPL-CERT&prof=0&Param_Fromtype=RegisteredEntity

The certificate of compliance is awarded to that company only who fulfills the statutory requirements on annual return filing. And only those companies who meet the requirements of holding its Annual General Meeting on time with its accounts up to date and the Annual Return filed within the prescribed period will be awarded the Certificate. If company fails to perform any of the requirements, the certificate awarded will be withdrawn.

http://www.bizfile.gov.sg/mybizfile/prod/pop_up/ComplianceCert.html

However According ACRA it is illegal offence to show such information if it is reproduced without prior permission from them.

http://www.acra.gov.sg/Quick+Links/Purchase_of_Information/Certificate+of+Good+Standing.htm

“ [Note] [Warning]The Certificate of Good Standing or any of its contents shall not be reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted or otherwise distributed in any way without the prior permission of ACRA. Modification or misuse of this Certificate or its contents may be a criminal offence and/or a violation of ACRA's copyright and other intellectual property rights.”

3. Association with Yahoo Network Publisher: This is blatant lie, Even I can make a statement in a website publishing that XYZ pvt ltd is now partner with Google network. The point here is that there is no proof to verify it. Infact if it is true then it would have made it in the news. As I have said it before this company which touts about its survey has zero presence in press news.

11. Mutli crore tax invasion

When I saw the website it said “E-Zine attracts no custom duty as per HS Code 49.02. There is also no VAT on periodicals.”

http://www.speakasiaonline.com/legal_document.aspx

But the fact is that any income arises in India is taxable

Step 1: http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/DIT/intfccont.aspx#

Step 2: Go through the taxability in India section (the website works best in internet explorer)

Subject to 40 the provisions of this Act, the total income40 of any previous year of a person who is a non-resident includes all income from whatever source derived which—

(a) is received 41 or is deemed to be received41 in India in such year by or on behalf of such person ; or

(b) accrues 41 or arises41 or is deemed to accrue or arise to him in India during such year.

http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/DIT/File_opener.aspx?fn=http://law.incometaxindia.gov.in/Directtaxlaws/act2005/fc2.htm

There is a para which says

“ 65 [(c) in the case of a non-resident, being a person engaged in the business of running a news agency or of publishing newspapers, magazines or journals, no income shall be deemed to accrue or arise in India to him through or from activities which are confined to the collection of news and views in India for transmission out of India”

As you can see that even if Speak Asia falls in above category then also it fails to meet the condition which I have highlighted in bold letters.

So income accrued from this survey business is taxable.

Right now in period of a year, more than 1.5 million people have joined in Speak Asia. So it can be said that more than Rs 7,800 crores amount have been circulated in this scheme. So you can get the glimpse that how possible fraud it is making.

12.My conclusion:

Speak Asia is a scam because it involves activities of money circulation scheme and pyramid scheme which is banned in India and many other developed countries in the world. As I have mentioned it before that if you are earning money from a source does not validate that it is the legal way if earning money. We are earning from the investment from the others and not from any multinationals. Multinationals are not such fools who will invest crores of rupees on survey which has no authenticity.

From my opinion Speak Asia is just one formal complaint away from getting into trouble. Police will not initiate any legal action until and unless any formal complaint is lodged against that company.

For e.g In Gujarat a person named Abhay Gandhi swindled Crores of rupees but complaint was lodged as people feared that investigation would also come on them to inquire regarding from which source they have earned the money as people invested in thousands and lakhs in scheme of Abhay Gandhi.

http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=3&contentid=2011042920110429015236818bb601365

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-03/ahmedabad/29498928_1_investors-stock-guru-midas-touch

I know here the case is different here the question is that why the people will complain if they are getting 3 to 4 times return on their investment. In a country where inflation is spiralling and cost of living is increasing, it is very obvious that people will not think regarding from which source they are getting such money. But the real truth is that one

must inquire from which source they are getting such amount so that they give such lucrative returns on investment.