Well we Brits have ourselves to blame for some of this. The multiple copies, with carbon paper, was intended to make sure there were many cross checks and thus avoid corruption, that system worked very well until about 1947.
On ATC, remember the person you talk to, especially on HF, is a radio operator, not a controller and he works under the same 15Watt bulb that is universal throughout India, in a dingy office with flies and a very slow ceiling fan with equipment that dates back many decades and has been kept running only because of the TLC and devotion of a few dedicated engineers who get paid less than a cup of Starbucks coffee for a days work and have to put up with torrential downpours of rain that cause them severe problems but, as always, there is no money left in the budget to fix it! Guess why!
The radio Operator will take down your request, or his sidekick will and it will be passed to the Assistant Controller who will, when he gets a chance, pass it to the Controller, the Controller will then make his decision and it will be passed back down the chain. No point at all in trying to discuss anything with the Radio Operator, they have no authority. No place on earth better to see demarcation at work than India, and yes, we taught them that too as a way to make more people self sufficient through employment, wicked colonials that we were!
India charges the same dollar rates for ATC as anywhere else but each dollar has to stretch a whole lot further. Look at Indian railways for an example of thousands of people gainfully employed and supporting families when just a few degrees of automation would throw large numbers out on the streets, unemployed and starving, India doesn't have a very good welfare record.
Non of the above goes to excuse the rampant corruption in India but until that can be stamped out then we have to live with what they offer. I got very irritated when overflying India with 15 minutes separation due 'no radar' but just try cutting a corner or two and you would soon be told that you were "4.3 miles left of the centreline" the military radar works very well but they didn't, (then), use it to control civil traffic.
I suppose my point is that, as the end user, there is no point at all in getting cross with the HF radio Operator or the 'controllers' on non radar sectors, sorry, I have gone on a bit!
