While I agree that there are far too many lofty media reports about n-Logue and similar rural IT projects, I can assure you that none of our case studies are based on them. WRI always sends a team of researchers in-country to personally investigate the enterprises we write about. As for n-Logue, I wrote the case study after spending a year working for the company in India, so I know quite a lot about both the venture and Prof. Jhunjhunwala.

You’re correct in pointing out that a number of kiosks are defaulting on their bank loans, but I don’t think it’s entirely due to n-Logue’s failure to provide sustainable services. While the company does provide a number of applications to get the business started, the kiosk owner is not limited to selling only these. For example, although n-Logue produces its own computer education courses, kiosks reported earning almost twice as much from third-party education applications. In fact, the majority of reported earnings (see Appendix A) did not come from n-Logue services at all.

As I point out in the case study, the biggest factors in determining the success of a kiosk are the skills of the operator. It’s not an easy job. To be successful, the kiosk operator must perform many roles, including salesperson, marketer, teacher, service provider, and computer professional. While I agree that n-Logue could do a better job vetting potential operators, it’s hard to judge in advance who will be a successful entrepreneur. At the end of the day, the kiosk is a business just like any other. n-Logue can help start it and provide on-going training and support, but the kiosk owner is ultimately responsible for its success or failure. And it’s worth pointing out that many have made the business a success.

Regarding the EMI obligation, the kiosk owners are aware that they don’t have to pay it for the first few months. The loans are purposefully arranged that way to give the operators a chance to build a customer base for services that are often unique to the areas where they are offered. Personally, I think that the lead time should be greater, but that decision is made by the banks, not n-Logue.

I’ll be the first to admit that there are a number of things n-Logue could do better, but that doesn’t mean the company is run by crooks. While there, I worked with a staff dedicated to helping the kiosks succeed. But there’s only so much a struggling start-up with limited resources can do. It’s a tough business environment for any company to succeed in, and I’d encourage you to read the case study in full to better understand these external factors before judging the company so harshly.