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December 21, 2016CBI Steps in to Probe Rs 6.15 Lakh Paytm ‘Fraud’
The Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] has gone out of its way to act on a complaint lodged by the digital wallet company Paytm. In an unusual move for the country’s premier investigation agency, the CBI has registered a complaint against 15 people for allegedly claiming fraudulent refunds worth Rs 6. 15 lakh from payment gateway Paytm. The agency mentioned the 15 Paytm customers and unknown officials of the company as suspects in the FIR. The 15 customers are residents of Kalkaji, Govindpuri and Saket. The unknown officials belong to One97 Communications, the parent company of Paytm. The FIR was registered on a complaint from the company under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act. It is rare for CBI to take up such cases unless they have been referred by the central government or there are directions by the Supreme Court or a high court.
Paytm says that in the last two years, it found 48 cases where customers were wrongly refunded for defective products or were given back their money for falsely claiming that they had not received the product. The complaint by the company’s manager [legal], M Sivakumar, claimed that the company makes payment for defective products received by a customer and arranges a reverse pickup of the damaged product which is then sent to the merchant. The process is done by a team of customer care executives who have been assigned specific IDs and passwords to handle such complaints from customers and arrange refunds and pickups.
"As a matter of fact wherein delivery of orders were successful and satisfactory to the customer, refund should not happen. However, in all these 48 cases, refund of the order amount happened to the respective customers to the tune of Rs 6.15 lakh," the complaint, which is now part of the FIR, alleged. It alleged that customers "illegally" appropriated money refunded in their bank accounts and wallets.
The company has information that in those cases where refunds were made, money was further transferred from the wallet to the bank accounts of either accused persons or people known to each other, it alleged.
According to an agency spokesperson, “The CBI can register cases under IT Act in the territory of Delhi even on complaints from and against private individuals. This has been happening since 2000.” But the spokesperson declined to respond to a question on many such cases the agency had registered. A CBI official said that the agency has investigated complaints from Paytm and private banks such as ICICI Bank in the past, too.
In the FIR registered Thursday, the CBI mentioned as suspects 15 customers of the $5 billion digital wallet company and unknown officials of Paytm, all residents of Delhi.
The complaint from the Paytm’s Manager (Legal), M Sivakumar, claimed that the company makes payment for defective products received by customers and arranges for pickup of the damaged product which is sent to the merchant. The process is done by a team of customer care executives who have been assigned specific IDs and passwords to handle such complaints.
Its complaint to the CBI has alleged that customers “illegally” appropriated money refunded in their bank accounts and e-wallets.
The digital wallet company, which got a big boost in transactions after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, claimed that the accused got details of the internal workings of the company before executing their plans.
The company alleged that most of these customers had taken deliveries of products at common or similar addresses.
Naming the customers in the FIR, the company claimed that they may have played an instrumental role in the fraud, may be known to each other and part of a larger conspiracy.
The company alleged that in cases where refunds were made, money was further transferred from e-wallets to the bank accounts of either the accused or those known to each other. The company claimed that the refunds were made within five to six minutes of disputes being raised by the customer.
Highlights
The complaint from the Paytm’s Manager (Legal), M Sivakumar, claimed that the company makes payment for defective products received by customers and arranges for pickup of the damaged product which is sent to the merchant.
