Krishnadas Rajagopal
Posted: Oct 23, 2008 at 0042 hrs IST
New Delhi, October 22 Unsolicited telemarketing calls trouble everyone — even judges. During a hearing on Wednesday, a senior judge of Delhi High Court gave vent to his ire on ICICI Bank for making “unsolicited marketing calls” to him.
“I receive calls at all time of the day from ICICI Bank,” Justice Vikramjit Sen said. “I do not know what business you get out of such calls.... You are a nuisance and have to face the music for making these unsolicited calls.”
The division bench was hearing an application moved by ICICI Bank for a stay on revival of contempt of court proceedings before the Delhi State Consumer Commission on the basis of a petition by advocate Nivedita Sharma. Sharma had filed her appeal in response to the “menace of unsolicited commercial telemarketing calls” and divulging “private and confidential information”.
On December 26, 2006 the consumer commission had levied a Rs 12.5-lakh penalty on the bank for making nuisance calls. Though the High Court subsequently stayed the Commission’s decision on September 11, 2007, the court had warned the bank against making “unsolicited marketing calls”.
The court had also warned the bank that the stay order should not be misinterpreted as “a licence to continue making unsolicited calls to customers”. The High Court had also given customers liberty to move the consumer commission if they continued to receive unwanted marketing calls from ICICI Bank.
“I moved the Commission because I still got calls from the bank despite registering with the ‘Do Not Call’ registry,” Sharma told Newsline. “The calls were in clear violation of the consumer commission’s order.”
The bank contended before the High Court bench today that Sharma was merely misusing the “liberty granted to her by the court” to seek relief with the consumer commission if still pestered by unsolicited calls. Terming her current litigation before the Commission as “misconceived”, the bank argued that it was impossible for Sharma to receive any unsolicited call as her name had been “updated” on the ‘Do Not Call’ registry.
At this point Justice Sen sought to prove the bank wrong by citing his personal example. “Do you think you are above the law?” the judge asked. “Who is your highest ranking officer in northern India... bring him here; let him explain these calls.”
The bench then kept aside the case for a while to give the counsel time to summon the concerned bank official. Later, the court gave some reprieve to the bank to file a suitable response by the next date of hearing.
Read the post on Indian Express
Thursday 23 October, 2008
Tuesday 14 October, 2008
When Life Succumbs to Debt
Another article appearing in Times of India, Mumbai Edition dated 14-10-2008
WHEN LIFE SUCCUMBS TO DEBT
There Has Been An Increase In Serial Borrowers, Who Keep Taking Credit Cards And Loans To Pay Off Earlier Amounts
Bella Jaisinghani | TNN
Mumbai: Desperate times call for desperate measures, though the most drastic option of all is chosen by only a few. The global meltdown has come as a double whammy to overspenders whose backs are already bent under piles of mounting debt.
Instances of Mumbaikars having taken several credit cards or loans just so they can attempt to pay off previous debt are not uncommon. The attempts are usually unsuccessful, as they only end up increasing the credit burden.
In 2006, then RBI governor Y V Reddy noticed how liberal pay packages and unbridled consumerism were resulting in a lethal cocktail. He recommended that banks devise a counselling mechanism to educate people about financial matters—mainly, how to resolve debt issues and how to invest. Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Union Bank took the cue and started such centres across cities and small towns too, since rising credit is not restricted to just urban areas anymore.
Of these, Abhay Credit Counselling Center, which is run by Bank of India in middle-class Prabhadevi, currently has 1,000 desperate borrowers on its counselling list. “Around 90% of these people are serial borrowers. They find it difficult to pay off money owed on one credit card, so they procure another one in the vain hope of paying up on the first. Then they get yet another one to pay off dues on the second,’’ said V N Kulkarni, chief counsellor. “They often do that with personal loans as well.’’
Just two days ago, a 32-year-old chawl resident walked into Abhay demanding that they arrange for an umbrella loan to cover his various borrowings. Kulkarni and his team were shocked to learn that the man, who had old parents, a wife and an infant to support, had taken eight personal loans amounting to Rs 22 lakh. He also had nine credit cards, whose total debt amounts to Rs 9 lakh.
“The youngster works with a private firm and earns merely Rs 10,000 per month,’’ said c o u n s e l l o r A s h o k Kargutkar, himself overwhelmed by the facts. “He even refused to believe he was a defaulter, saying he did pay off a little debt each month.’’ Upon learning that he did not have any assets, like a house that he could sell to pay off the debt, all the Abhay team could do was ask the gentleman to contact a lawyer and file for insolvency.
Part of the blame, no doubt, must be shared by the financial institutions that have been forcing credit cards on customers without checking their credit-worthiness. Kulkarni said that, of late, financial institutions had been distributing credit cards “like prasad”.
Counsellor Peter Fernandes strongly felt that banks ought to tighten the rules and conduct thorough background checks before issuing credit cards to perennial defaulters. “A borrower is not likely to disclose that he has several unpaid loans to his name and the banks don’t care until the client defaults,’’ he said.
Then, when it is too late, banks are known to despatch recovery agents to chase defaulters, often leading to unpleasant consequences. A woman who bought a car just so she could hire it out to a rental company for profit, was allegedly killed by the agency she owed money to. Afterwards, the agency even pressured her husband—who knew nothing of the loan—to pay up the loan. The police then made out a case for murder against the agency, which stopped the harassment.
Occasionally, credit counsellors do meet clients who warn that they will commit suicide if they go insolvent. “We patiently have to advise them that suicide is not an option, that they must learn to face the situation,’’ said Kulkarni. “The debt will remain even if he kills himself. In fact, how will the family manage financially without the man’s support.’’
FAMILIES FALL APART
MARCH 2004: Trader Ketan Anuwadia and his wife Keena killed their two sons, Rishi and Devansh, before committing suicide at their Kandivli residence. Ketan had run into losses of Rs 1.35 crore.
DECEMBER 2003: Santosh Surve, director of chit fund company Kalpavruksha Finance, shot dead his wife and two daughters before committing suicide at their Thane residence. He was unable to repay investors.
MAY 2003: Assistant police inspector Prashant Sawant shot dead his wife and son before committing suicide in their flat in Chembur. He was said to be depressed.
WHEN LIFE SUCCUMBS TO DEBT
There Has Been An Increase In Serial Borrowers, Who Keep Taking Credit Cards And Loans To Pay Off Earlier Amounts
Bella Jaisinghani | TNN
Mumbai: Desperate times call for desperate measures, though the most drastic option of all is chosen by only a few. The global meltdown has come as a double whammy to overspenders whose backs are already bent under piles of mounting debt.
Instances of Mumbaikars having taken several credit cards or loans just so they can attempt to pay off previous debt are not uncommon. The attempts are usually unsuccessful, as they only end up increasing the credit burden.
In 2006, then RBI governor Y V Reddy noticed how liberal pay packages and unbridled consumerism were resulting in a lethal cocktail. He recommended that banks devise a counselling mechanism to educate people about financial matters—mainly, how to resolve debt issues and how to invest. Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Union Bank took the cue and started such centres across cities and small towns too, since rising credit is not restricted to just urban areas anymore.
Of these, Abhay Credit Counselling Center, which is run by Bank of India in middle-class Prabhadevi, currently has 1,000 desperate borrowers on its counselling list. “Around 90% of these people are serial borrowers. They find it difficult to pay off money owed on one credit card, so they procure another one in the vain hope of paying up on the first. Then they get yet another one to pay off dues on the second,’’ said V N Kulkarni, chief counsellor. “They often do that with personal loans as well.’’
Just two days ago, a 32-year-old chawl resident walked into Abhay demanding that they arrange for an umbrella loan to cover his various borrowings. Kulkarni and his team were shocked to learn that the man, who had old parents, a wife and an infant to support, had taken eight personal loans amounting to Rs 22 lakh. He also had nine credit cards, whose total debt amounts to Rs 9 lakh.
“The youngster works with a private firm and earns merely Rs 10,000 per month,’’ said c o u n s e l l o r A s h o k Kargutkar, himself overwhelmed by the facts. “He even refused to believe he was a defaulter, saying he did pay off a little debt each month.’’ Upon learning that he did not have any assets, like a house that he could sell to pay off the debt, all the Abhay team could do was ask the gentleman to contact a lawyer and file for insolvency.
Part of the blame, no doubt, must be shared by the financial institutions that have been forcing credit cards on customers without checking their credit-worthiness. Kulkarni said that, of late, financial institutions had been distributing credit cards “like prasad”.
Counsellor Peter Fernandes strongly felt that banks ought to tighten the rules and conduct thorough background checks before issuing credit cards to perennial defaulters. “A borrower is not likely to disclose that he has several unpaid loans to his name and the banks don’t care until the client defaults,’’ he said.
Then, when it is too late, banks are known to despatch recovery agents to chase defaulters, often leading to unpleasant consequences. A woman who bought a car just so she could hire it out to a rental company for profit, was allegedly killed by the agency she owed money to. Afterwards, the agency even pressured her husband—who knew nothing of the loan—to pay up the loan. The police then made out a case for murder against the agency, which stopped the harassment.
Occasionally, credit counsellors do meet clients who warn that they will commit suicide if they go insolvent. “We patiently have to advise them that suicide is not an option, that they must learn to face the situation,’’ said Kulkarni. “The debt will remain even if he kills himself. In fact, how will the family manage financially without the man’s support.’’
FAMILIES FALL APART
MARCH 2004: Trader Ketan Anuwadia and his wife Keena killed their two sons, Rishi and Devansh, before committing suicide at their Kandivli residence. Ketan had run into losses of Rs 1.35 crore.
DECEMBER 2003: Santosh Surve, director of chit fund company Kalpavruksha Finance, shot dead his wife and two daughters before committing suicide at their Thane residence. He was unable to repay investors.
MAY 2003: Assistant police inspector Prashant Sawant shot dead his wife and son before committing suicide in their flat in Chembur. He was said to be depressed.
Borivli deaths: Brother, sis had 72 credit cards
The following news appeared in the Mumbai Edition of Times of India
Borivli deaths: Brother, sis had 72 credit cards
Nitasha Natu | TNN
Mumbai: Financial woes are being confirmed as the prime reason for the deaths of four members of the Borivli family whose bodies were found inside their rented flat on Sunday.
Suchitra Nair, 46, and her brother Sudhir Nair, 42, had taken nearly 72 credit cards from various banks and credit-lending institutes, police officials revealed on Monday.The duo had also taken a Rs 8 lakh loan from a private bank to start a business in agriculture and dairy farming. A suicide note found at the scene said, “We have taken the lives of our parents and then our own.’’ Police said Suchitra’s former colleagues have identified the handwriting on the note as hers.
The two are suspected to have hanged themselves at their residence in Ekta Woods after allegedly killing their parents, A K Nair, 81, and Shyamal, 70. However, the police have registered a case of accidental death.
Suchitra and Sudhir Nair had 36 cards each and had also taken a Rs 8 lakh loan
The question that begs to be answered is that were all the banks sleeping when they issued them such a huge number of credit cards?
Why did the banks not use the services of CIBIL before issuing such a large number of credit cards to the brother and sister duo?
Should the banks not be charged with Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder?
And, this is not a stray case, banks are distributing credit cards on a platter and then when they are about to fail, they rush for bail-outs.
Stupid bank, stupid bankers!
Friday 10 October, 2008
16-yrs RI for man in credit card fraud
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: A gang that used to duplicate international credit cards and use them for buying gold and electronics in several cities was convicted by a metropolitan court in Borivli.Jaidevsingh Dhillon (43), Putrasingh Mani (52) and Manojkumar Pillai (29) have been sentenced to 16 years’ rigorous imprisonment and have been asked to pay Rs 30,000 as fine. Dhillon has worked as a policeman in Malaysia, officers said. The two masterminds, Raju and Nandan, are believed to be in France.
According to the police, the racket had been going on from 2001 to 2003. The masterminds, Raju and Nandan, used a cardreader to transfer vital data from international credit cards on to blank cards which are easily available in the grey market. These duplicate credit cards were sent to Dhillon, Mani and Pillai, whose would use them for shopping in departmental stores.
In Mumbai, the duplicate cards were used to buy jewellery, consumer durables and electronics at Khar, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Andheri and Malad. The gang also used them in cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Vijaywada. “Genuine card-holders would be billed for the purchases made by the gang. The card-holders would inform their banks that such large purhcases were never made by them. Eventually, it was the card-issuing banks that incurred heavy losses,’’ said investigating officer Prakash Shishupal. The police recovered 14 duplicate international credit cards from the gang, besides two cellphone and Rs 8.5 lakh in cash.
In 2003, Dhillon jumpd bail and fled from the city. He then used some duplicate credit cards to purchase valuables in Chandigarh. Later, he changed his name and moved to Navi Mumbai where he ran a small hotel. For three years, he was on the run. In December 2006, the crime branch (unit V) managed to trace him and arrested him. “We recovered two television sets, computers, DVDs, printers and other valuables from Dhillon’s Malad office,’’ Shishupal said.
Mani and Pillai were convicted by a Borivli metropolitan court in August 2005. Dhillon was tried in the same case recently. Pillai also travelled overseas on a Canadian passport that he possessed in the name of Paul,’’ a police officer said.
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