A lot of people get burned by their first therapy experience in India simply because platforms hide the fine print until after you have already paid.

(For transparency: I'm a clinical psychologist and I work with Zenup Health, so weigh that as you read. Whether you are looking at a private practice or an online platform(including ours)there are a few non negotiable questions you should ask before handing over your money.)

First, always ask for the practitioner's exact degree and their RCI registration number if they claim to be a clinical psychologist, or their NMC registration if they are a psychiatrist.

Second, ask what happens if you do not click with the therapist after the first session, and confirm whether you can switch to someone else without losing your money.

Third, ask about privacy in plain language,specifically how your session notes are stored and who on the team can see them. Finally, be very cautious of any service that pressures you into buying a bulk multi-session package before you have even had a single consultation to test the fit.

At Zenup Health, we keep our credentials and per-session pricing upfront for this exact reason, and any safe provider will happily answer these questions before you book.

For those who have tried online therapy here, what was the biggest green flag or red flag you noticed before booking?

India's six-digit PIN code system has been around for more than five decades, but very few people know how it started or how it works.

How it all began

Before 1972, the Indian postal system faced several challenges. Similar place names, multiple languages, incomplete addresses and handwritten letters often caused confusion and delays in mail delivery.

To solve this problem, Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, an official in the Ministry of Communications, introduced the Postal Index Number (PIN) system on 15 August 1972, coinciding with India's 25th Independence Day.

The objective was simple: make mail sorting and delivery faster, more accurate and less dependent on language or local geographical knowledge.

How does a PIN code work?

Every Indian PIN code contains six digits. Take 110001 (New Delhi) as an example:

First digit (1): Postal region

First two digits (11): Postal sub-region

First three digits (110): Sorting district

Last three digits (001): Delivery post office

India has nine postal zones, eight geographical zones and one dedicated to the Army Postal Service.

This system became the foundation of postal operations across the country.

The next development: DIGIPIN

In 2025, India Post introduced DIGIPIN (Digital Postal Index Number), developed in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad and NRSC-ISRO.

Unlike conventional PIN codes, which represent relatively large geographical areas, DIGIPIN divides India into approximately 4 × 4 metre geographical grids, assigning each grid a unique 10-character alphanumeric code.

This could be particularly useful for rural areas, remote locations, emergency services, logistics companies and places without properly defined street addresses.

DIGIPIN does not replace traditional PIN codes. Both systems are intended to work together, with DIGIPIN providing greater location accuracy.

What happens next?

India introduced PIN codes in 1972 to simplify the movement of physical mail. More than 50 years later, DIGIPIN is attempting to address another challenge: identifying precise locations in a country with millions of incomplete or unstructured addresses.

Whether DIGIPIN achieves widespread adoption will depend on its integration with delivery services, digital platforms and public infrastructure.

Do you think DIGIPIN will eventually become as widely used as the traditional six-digit PIN code?

Sources:

India Post www.indiapost.gov.in

Press Information Bureau, Government of India

DIGIPIN Technical Documentation India Post (GitHub)

Ankita Bhandari was a 19-year-old girl belonging to a poor family. She was a brilliant student. Today, she should have completed her graduation. But what she decided was to make sure her younger brother could complete his basic education and to support her family by working as a receptionist in a hotel in 2022.

The hotel was owned by Pulkit Arya, the son of BJP party member and MLA Vinod Arya. She joined in August 2022. Everything went fine for a month, but on 18 September 2022, she was asked for favours by her employer and BJP member Arya for a VIP. She declined, was taken aback by it, and objected strongly. In one of her WhatsApp messages, she said, “I am poor; that doesn’t mean I will sell my body for 10,000 Rs.” —the only reason she stayed was because she was expecting her monthly salary.

On the same day she went missing, her parents tried to contact her but they were not able to make it, so they contacted the restaurant staff. Her employer, Pulkit Arya, filed a complaint to the Patwari (revenue official), as he had the power to file cases regarding “missing persons” in his area—a deliberate attempt to delay the investigation by the Patwari. Her father had to come daily to the Patwari’s office for updates, only to be disappointed by the lax investigation, as they still treated it as a “missing person case”. He spoke about his frustrations to the media and people there.

Her body was found on 24 September after 6 days, and in the meantime, the employees did their best to tamper with evidence: phone logs of staff were changed, cameras removed from the hotel, and local BJP legislators even tried to destroy the hotel itself. Using a JCB, they destroyed certain parts of it.

Ankita’s parents started alleging foul play and harassment and also told that she was distressed. The police finally took over on 20 September. Locals asserted pressure on the police, and between 20–22 September, the investigation revealed that Ankita was last seen with the owners when she went missing. It also became very suspicious how her phone suddenly switched off and how the camera records were missing. She also left without clothing, and the answers from the suspects differed, hence they were arrested on 23 September.

When Ankita’s body was found in a canal near the hotel, it caused lots of outrage on the very same day. People from nearby villages, cities, and towns like Kotdwar blocked roads and started protesting. On the way, women from neighbouring villages blocked the road and beat down the suspects themselves in the police car.

The lawyers and advocates of Kotdwar, where the whole trial happened, along with the local bar association, decided not to represent the accused. The whole of Uttarakhand was outraged over the incident, and people made it a hot topic. The accused were convicted in May 2025, and a death sentence was demanded by the people. However, it was underwhelming that they were not given one, even though this was considered a “rarest of rare” case.

But now the question arises: who is the VIP? Were the suspects merely a smaller part of the whole game? Was the space created to protect someone bigger? An ex-wife of a BJP legislator leaked one of her call recordings regarding the case, in which she could be heard telling about the VIPs involved and how the party tried to protect them, including the Minister to make a government in UK—the BJP ministers of Uttarakhand Ajay Kumar and Dushyant were mentioned in it.

And in just one week, the whole state again spiraled in protest. Protests are being held everywhere, even after multiple years since this case. The people of the state are doing their best to get justice done.

After weeks of protests, the state government finally decided to transfer the case to the CBI.

But it has been months since, we finally got to know an update on the person who has been accused as VIP, Dushyant Kumar. Dushyant Kumar was appointed as the Governor of Sikkim, undermining the investigative procedure over him, because since him being the Governor of a state provides him some privileges to run away from the custody and other things.

The Uttar Pradesh election is coming soon and it could be a tight-knit competition. The government is trying its best to not to let any other influential person go who is influential in that region.

What I want is your support regarding it! Please spread this everywhere and let justice be done for the girl whose wings were cut down before she could learn to fly, for the family who lost their dearest, and for the people who have been fighting for justice.