Singh & Singh Law Firm helps recover Rs. 18.5 lakhs to a cyber fraud victim

A businessman lost Rs. 18.50 lakhs because of alleged negligence of Vodafone Cellular Ltd. (Vodafone). An amount of Rs. 18.50 lakhs had been debited from the complainant's bank account as his SIM card linked with his bank accounts was de-activated and a duplicate SIM had been issued to an imposter on the basis of fake and forged documents.

The imposter used the duplicate SIM card linked to the complainant's bank account to siphon off money from the complainant's account.

There was a serious lapse on the part of the Telecom Service Provider (TSP) in verifying the bonafides and authenticity of the person applying for a duplicate SIM. The concern for national security is quite relevant at the time of issue of duplicate SIM. Otherwise it can easily fall in wrong hands and cause additional loss to the original subscriber also. Further, the need for higher level of diligence in matters of security and procedures arises in such cases because the TSPs have important duties towards their subscribers not to compromise their personal information by sheer negligence and lack of security measures.

The TDSAT noted that in such cases, the TSP is found to be negligent in implementing and maintaining reasonable security practice and procedures as mandated by Guidelines Rules of 2011 and thereby it has caused wrongful loss to the subscriber, section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Act) can get attracted against the TSP.

The TDSAT concluded that Vodafone is liable under section 43(g) and section 43A of the Act whereas the Bank is found liable only under section 43A of the Act and ruled that the complainant was entitled to receive Rs. 15 lakhs from Vodafone and Rs. 3.5 lakhs from the Bank.

The Singh & Singh Law Firm team that represented the complainant (businessman) in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) comprised of Partner Tejveer Bhatia; Senior Associates Kunal Vats and Rohan Swarup; and Associate Kartikeya Pant.