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Fourteen Wintech Centers shut in Chennai

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

CHENNAI: Wintech Computers, which had seventeen franchisees in Chennai till

November 2000, have now been reduced to three. The apparent reason behind the

decision was the recent anti-piracy raids by Oracle to unearth use of illegal

software at Wintech's Mumbai centers last November.

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Sources say that after the raid, Wintech Computers, which had been following

a centralized management until then, suddenly left its franchisees in a lurch.

With no proper system in place to take care of the centers, majority of the

franchisees closed shop.

Before decentralization, the franchisees had to put up the infrastructure in

return for 30 per cent revenue generated by the centers. Now with Wintech

offering 40 percent stake in the business and a centralized management to the

franchisee, there are not many takers, said some industry sources and former

Wintech franchisees, on conditions of anonymity.

In Delhi, most of the Wintech centers are now stopped operations leaving

hundreds of students in the lurch. Wintech Computers had been offering Wintech

Certified Solution Developer for Rs 17,500, Wintech Focus for Rs 24,000 and

Wintech Web and Print for Rs 7000 and Rs 5000.

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However, Wintech Computers, manager (Chennai) Gokul says: "We are still

offering these courses at the West Mambalam, Teynampet and T Nagar centers. We

are taking in students who were studying at the other centers here."

Gokul claims that Wintech is doing well outside Chennai with its Pondicherry

center contributing revenue of nearly Rs 2.5 lakh per month and three centers in

Coimbatore also doing well. He also cited the competition and various options

available for franchisees in Chennai as the reason behind the reduction in the

number of Wintech centers.

It may be worth noting that students at a Wintech center in Bhopal, Madhya

Pradesh, had recently registered a complaint of alleged cheating and fraud

against the company.

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