Delhi High Court Cracks Down On Tira Trademark Scam, Restrains Impersonators

Delhi High Court Cracks Down On Tira Trademark Scam, Restrains Impersonators

Introduction

The Delhi High Court has passed an ex parte ad-interim injunction restraining various persons from using Reliance Retail Limited's Tira trademark. The court was informed that these individuals had carried out large-scale impersonation and financial fraud targeting customers of the brand.

Factual Background

Reliance Retail's beauty and personal care brand Tira was launched in April 2023 and has acquired substantial goodwill. However, in May 2025, the company became aware of a widespread scam in which anonymous individuals were impersonating Tira representatives via WhatsApp and phone calls, using fake identity cards, promotional offers, and claims of failed transactions or order issues to deceive customers into making duplicate payments.

Procedural Background

Reliance Retail filed a trademark case before the Delhi High Court, seeking relief against the impersonators. The court noted that the scam had assumed a pan-India character, with 8,919 consumer complaints registered over a span of two months, including 666 in Delhi alone.

Issues

1. Trademark Infringement: Whether the impersonators' use of the Tira trademark constitutes trademark infringement.

2. Financial Scam: Whether the impersonators' actions amount to a large-scale financial scam targeting customers of the brand.

Contentions of Parties

Reliance Retail's Contentions: Reliance Retail submitted that the impersonators' actions were blatant and designed to defraud unwary and innocent consumers. The company argued that the use of its trademark created immense confusion and deception among consumers.

Impersonators' Contentions: No appearance was made on behalf of the impersonators.

Reasoning & Analysis

The bench led by Justice Saurabh Banerjee noted that the scam was being executed in a premeditated and coordinated manner using multiple rogue mobile numbers and fake digital identities. The court emphasized the need for real-time enforcement to prevent rights from being reduced to "toothless tigers" in the face of fast-moving digital frauds.

Final Outcome

The Delhi High Court passed the following directions:

• Injunction: Defendant No.1 (impersonators) and all associated persons are restrained from using the Tira trademark and its variants, including deceptively similar marks.
• Blocking of Mobile Numbers: Telecom Service Providers are to block and suspend mobile numbers used by the impersonators and disclose subscriber details of those who used these numbers.
• Blocking of WhatsApp Accounts: WhatsApp is to block accounts associated with the rogue numbers and provide basic subscriber information of those who used these numbers.
• Blocking of UPI IDs/QR Codes: The National Payments Corporation of India is to block UPI IDs/QR codes linked to the fraud and disclose account holder information of such numbers used to perpetrate the fraud.

Implications

The decision portrays the significance of protecting trademarks and preventing large-scale financial scams. It also emphasizes the need for real-time enforcement and cooperation between stakeholders to prevent digital frauds.

In this case the plaintiff was represented by Mr. Sandeep Sethi, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Sai Krishna Rajagopal, Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Yatinder Garg, Ms. Disha Sharma and Mr. Abjay Aren, Advocates.