New Delhi: A case of financial cheating involving nearly Rs 129.55 crore by 1093 individuals across the country has come to light over the past few years. The fraud also involves Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).
The matter came to light when, in Madhya Pradesh’s district Indore, seven individuals were accused of more than Rs 5.7 crore wrongly being deposited in their digital wallets. A case has been registered at Kshipra police station under the Indian Penal Code section 420 (cheating). The information was shared by Deputy Superintendent of Police Umakant Chaudhary.
How matter came to light?
In March 2023, a data analysis was carried out by the public sector oil marketing company which revealed that 1,093 customers had digital wallets across the country recharging for a total of Rs 129.55 crore. Though the statements showed no payments towards the recharge.
The matter came into public eyes when a BPCL officer submitted a written application on March 31, highlighting cheating in the payment system, alleging manipulation in transactions using a payment gateway.
As per reported by ANI, DSP rural Umakant Chaudhary said, “There is a BPCL depot under the jurisdiction of Kshipra police station here and BPCL’s Regional Manager (Retail) submitted a written complaint on March 31 stating forgery in their payment system. Seven individuals from Indore had been continuously procuring petrol and diesel since 2023 through the fleet cards issued by the company without having the payment debited. Even after notices were issued by BPCL, they did not make the payment, and fraud of approximately ₹5.72 crores has been committed.”
He added, “Based on the complaint, a case has been registered against seven people under section 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Kshipra police station and began investigating into the matter.”
The accused from Indore include Vishal Singh, Shashi Singh, Dalveer Singh, Baljinder Singh, Wahid Khan, Narendra Singh Basu and Balbir Singh. BPCL has blocked the ‘Smart Fleet’ accounts of these customers.
Key details of complaint filed
BPCL officials revealed that they received the information from the Razorpay team, which they used as a payment gateway to debit payments from the bank accounts of the registered customers under the 2021 scheme.
After the Razorpay team’s complaint, the company conducted an investigation in which they found that around 1,093 such cardholders committed similar fraud. This has caused a total loss of Rs 129.55 crore to the company.