KOCHI: Swindlers are coming out with innovate schemes to dupe the public and the latest one features the mobile tower business. A firm, which claims to be headquartered in Delhi, has been slotting advertisements in major dailies with phone numbers, promising nearly a crore as advance for providing space to install mobile towers. The firm also guarantees a monthly rent of Rs 1.5 lakh, while most mobile tower operators offer less than Rs 30,000.
But, the catch lies in the Rs 13,000 processing fee they demand upfront to take the deal forward. Many Kochiites, who had called up the number provided in the advertisements, were told to first pay the fee. Posing as a customer, TOI spoke to a company executive
Vikas Khanna and Swati Mehra, who introduced herself as a senior manager of the firm.
“We have no managers in the city, but 45 technicians who will verify the location after you transfer Rs13,150 to the bank account we provide,“ said Mehra.An account number belonging to one Anil Rai at
IDBI
bank's Noida branch was later provided via SMS. “If you deposit the money today , we will verify your property tomorrow,“ said Khanna.Their phones were switched off after banking hours ended.
“We have forwarded a complaint to the police department after noticing the advertisement,“ said V Raghunathan, deputy director general, department of telecom (enforcement). “These firms are from Delhi and Haryana. We do not have reports of people being conned by them yet. We have alerted the police to avoid such incidents,“ he said.
A corporate employee from Kochi shared her experience. “I realized it was a scam when they asked the money in advance. I questioned them and later they sent me an email which authorized the person to accept money . However, the authorization was from their own company , which was absurd,“ she said.
Another person, on condition of anonymity , said that he provided his email address and password while filling the application at their website. However, he called up
Tata Communications
before depositing the money and was not duped. The advertisement had claimed that the firm was a dealer of Tata communications, a claim the company rubbished. Regulatory officer of Tata Communications Anwar Aziz said that no network provider is directly involved in placing tower.“No company demands money from people before installing towers. The total cost of constructing a tower with all electronic equipment is below Rs 50 lakh.Providing Rs 90 lakh as rent is absurd,“ he said.
Shibu Mathew
, a tower constructer associated with
Indus Towers
, said the rent for space is nearly Rs 22,000. “The rent in a panchayat is 11,000, the same will be Rs 12,000 for a municipality . It will be Rs 22,000 for a corporation like Kochi,“ he said, adding that they do not take any money in return for the deal.
People who have rented their plots for placing towers said the rent they received was below Rs 30,000month. “For the tower on my roof with signals for three service providers, I get Rs 25,000 as rent. The rent will go down if the number of service providers plummet,“ said Nisar A from Kadavanthra.
Deputy commissioner Arul R B Krishna said police can take action only if an offence is committed. “We can investigate and give report to the concerned authority. We can investigate only if a complaint is lodged within our jurisdiction. A drastic action is not possible,“ he said.
Disney Tom is a senior correspondent with The Times of India in K...
Read MoreDisney Tom is a senior correspondent with The Times of India in Kochi. He writes on a range of issues including crime, courts, religion, and culture. He joined The Times of India in 2015 through campus placement from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. He likes to travel and write about people and places.
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