In May
2016, Sanjeev Goel, managing partner of Pure Energy Academy in Belapur, Navi Mumbai, signed a contract with
Justdial for business promotion. June onwards, Justdial
started
sucking money from Pure Energy's bank
account by using a fraudulent Electronic Clearance Service (ECS)
mandate
.
 |
| Justdial -- India's no. 1 bloodsuckers. |
Pure
Energy Academy's contract with Justdial was for payment of Rs 1040/-
per month, for a period of one year. See
the terms of contract below.
Two
cheques were issued towards the first two monthly payments. Justdial activated the contract on 3rd
June after depositing both the
cheques one day earlier. Justdial's backroom boys evidently forged a ECS/NACH mandate form enabling them to charge upto Rs 1040/-
as many times in a month as they wished. Justdial could milk limitless money from Pure Energy's
bank account by presenting the ECS/NACH mandate for the next 14
years! Also, the forged ECS mandate was made out to be irrevocable!
See
the forged ECS/NACH mandate below.
Take
a close look at this fishy document. All the
options are pre-tick-marked and cancelled in the printed form itself.
They are not tickmarked or cancelled by hand, the form is printed
that way! Even the supposed termination date of the contract –
31/03./2030 – is printed, and only the starting date is entered by
hand. The frequency options i.e. Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and
yearly, are all pre-cancelled in the printed form, and "As and
when presented" is pre-tickmarked. The debit type option of
"Maximum amount" is also pre-selected in the printed
stationery. Also notice that something has been pasted on top of the
form, partly covering the words "Client" and "Reference"
on the left-hand-side. Like a cheque, the ECS mandate is a negotiable
instrument, so how can it have a pasted-on layer? Aren't negotiable
instruments rejected by banks if there is pasting, over-writing etc.?
This ECS mandate defies commonsense!
Using
this ECS mandate, Justdial started guzzling money from Pure
Energy Academy's bank account. Justdial
encashed both the cheques on 3rd
June, and debited Rs 1040/- on 30th
June by ECS – three debits in the first month of the contract.
Despite being told to terminate the contract, Justdial
debited Rs 1040/- in July, August and September, plus Rs 110/- twice
in September. Within four months, Justdial took payment for more than
six months.
See Statement of Account below.
If
and only if the police register an FIR against Justdial, HDFC Bank
will consider reversing the debits. But
what if the police does not register FIR? Suppose the police takes
the stand that this is a banking issue, and therefore, they have no
understanding of it, and therefore, Sanjeev should complain to
appropriate authorities in the banking domain? Then Sanjeev will
be left with no remedies, and Justdial will get away
scotfree.
ISSUED
IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY
Krishnaraj
Rao
9821488114
krish.kkphoto@gmail.com
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