[link|http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,18512130%5E2765,00.html|http://www.thesunday...30%5E2765,00.html]

CALL-CENTRE workers in India are having nervous breakdowns after being abused by fed-up Australians \ufffd but they aren't getting much sympathy.

Half a million people are employed in India's fast-growing call-centre industry, famous for maddening calls at dinner time in Australia.

For some of the workers, abuse and overnight working hours are contributing to stress, sleeping disorders, fatigue and migraines.

A survey of Mumbai call centres found most call-centre workers suffer from burn-out stress syndrome.

The abuse included racial taunts, the Global South Research Group survey found.

"Racial abuse by foreign customers is a job hazard that most employees have to deal with," a report on the survey says.

"The US and Australia are the worst abusers," said Vino Shetty, from his Young Professionals Collective office in Mumbai.