Hyderabad, Jan. 11: Humiliating warnings from banks not to default on loans. Suddenly deactivated credit cards causing embarrassment at shops and malls.

At the Satyam office coffee shop last evening, the women wept openly and their male colleagues blinked back tears as they spoke of the ways their daily lives had already taken a hit amid the uncertainty about their jobs and future.

Many banks and credit-card agencies have apparently deactivated Satyam employees’ cards amid rumours that the company may not be able to pay salaries for long. Others have set stringent limits.

Vinod Mendi had bought CDs and a CD player at a mall in the morning. When he swiped his card, the authorisation didn’t come. He can’t forget the look on the shop assistant’s face. “I was squirming. I had to call up a friend and ask him to bring me some money,” he said.

“My banks are not authorising payments through my debit and credit cards for purchases above Rs 3,000.”

Even eateries and bars in Hyderabad’s IT hub are refusing credit. “How can we, when it’s clear they can’t pay their dues by month-end?” said bar owner Raghubir Singh.

Since Friday, most Satyam employees who had taken house or car loans have received calls and text messages from banks warning against payment delay or default. Even the vendors who sold pani puri and dahi vada outside the complex have vanished.

“What a shame and what a predicament he (B. Ramalinga Raju) has dragged us all into,” sobbed Urmila (name changed), a star employee who had once been invited to dine at the chairman’s table.

Others were harsher as they watched the coffee shop TV, beaming scenes outside the city magistrate’s home where their boss of years was to be brought.

“He has handed us a triple shock — no money, no credit, no jobs. He has ruined our Pongal,” said Govind Hebbal, a techie working at one of Satyam’s European centres who had arrived here on vacation and has stayed put.

“He was free to play around with his own money, but why he did he choose to drag us all down with him?” a program writer bristled.

Only 1,540 of the 2,700 employees came to work at Satyam’s main complex on Saturday, security chief Raghubir Singh said. Other Satyam centres too have seen a fall in attendance. “Absence means a pay deduction, but nobody cares since they fear loss of their entire salary,” an executive said.