MUMBAI: A real estate agent from Andheri MIDC has been duped of nearly INR 2 lakh by fraudsters who claimed to help him get a dealership of Tata Power EV charging station. A senior spokesperson from Tata Power said the company has been warning citizens on social media and other platforms not to fall prey to such scams.
The complainant D S Pratap (67) told MIDC police that he paid the amount between March 12 and 24. Police said Pratap suspected something amiss when the caller demanded another INR 7.5 lakh more after making him transfer INR 25,500 as security deposit and another INR 1.7 lakh towards getting the dealership.
On March 12, Pratap searched online for details on an EV station franchise and two days later he got a call from a person who claimed to be a representative of a Tata Power EZ Charge. “The caller, who identified himself as Anil Kumar, gave him details about the dealership after inquiring about his plot in Andheri East where planned to set it up,” said a police officer.
“The fraudster collected his banking details and took money for registration of the dealership and security deposit. We are tracking the caller and seeking details of the account into which Pratap transferred the money,” the officer added.
Pratap told police that he had sent copies of his Aadhaar and Pan cards, his bank passbook, education certificate, and a cancelled cheque to initiate the registration process. He is worried that the fraudsters may misuse his documents.
Tata Power, through a public notice published in a national newspaper recently, had alerted about forgery in electric vehicle charger deployment. The notice mentioned that it has come to attention that fraudulent individuals or companies or agencies are offering false promises under the pretext of granting EV charging franchise and are collecting money for the installation of EZ charge points after showing fake no-objection certificates for installation of EV chargers from fictitious companies or from government organizations or departments.
