Some Paytm customers managed to get refunds for products that had been delivered to them.
Highlights
- Paytm alleges some customers have cheated them of 6.15 lakh
- CBI registered FIR against said customers who stay in south Delhi
- Paytm alleges in 48 cases customers got refunds despite proper deliveries
Paytm, the country's biggest digital wallets company, says it has been cheated of about Rs 6 lakh by a group of customers who colluded with executives at the company. The CBI, the country's premier investigating agency, is handling the case. When asked why, a Paytm spokesperson explained: "This set of fraudulent users were from multiple locations across the country, and thus a centralised agency's help was sought."
Fifteen customers have been named in the FIR or First Information Report which outlines early evidence. Paytm executives have not been identified yet. The scam is based not in the company's e-wallet operations but in its marketplace, where it sells phones and more.
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 Press Trust of India says that when asked why the CBI, which is short-staffed and handles huge inquires, had taken on this case for a 6-lakh swindle, a spokesperson said the agency "can register cases under Information Technology Act in the territory of Delhi even against private individuals."
Worth nearly 5 billion dollars, Paytm saw a massive surge in transactions after the government announced its demonetisation drive over a month ago.
"As a matter of facts wherein delivery of orders were successful and satisfactory to the customer, refund should not happen. However, in all these 48 cases refund of order amount happened to the respective customers to the tune of Rs 6.15 lakh," Paytm's complaint alleged.
(With inputs from PTI)