A database of cellphone bill defaulters

Customers who default on their payment to cellphone companies will find it increasingly difficult to cheat other companies in the near future.

The Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (Cibil) is in talks with leading telecom companies to create a database of cellphone customers in the country on lines similar to that of a financial institution.

This will mean that every default on cellphone bills and the credit history of a customer would be available for mobile operators at the click of a mouse. Cibil is carrying out a pilot run in Mumbai in association with one of the main service providers.

Tata Docomo offers free incoming

Tata Docomo launched a an exclusive ‘Roam Free’ offer for its post payed customers. Under the offer, customers can enjoy incoming roaming absolutely free anywhere across the country on Tata Docomo network.

By availing the unique offer customers don’t have to worry about incoming roaming charges, while outgoing roaming will be charged at 1paise per second. What more! All this comes at absolutely no extra cost to Docomo customers.

Salient features of the plan are:

• It introduces roam free plans only on PostPay.
• Plans Offer free incoming across the country on Tata Docomo’s national network.
• Outgoing calls are also billed per second while roaming.

Existing customers can avail the offer, by just sending SMS to 121 to start using this benefit on the new Roam Free plans with greater than 299 rental.

RBI mail address hijacked by phishers

In what is being described as an online shock for the Reserve Bank of India, cyber fraudsters masquerading as officials of the country's apex bank have started sending fraud emails to unsuspecting citizens seeking their banking details.

The fraud came to light after several people reported having received a mail from the address update@rbi.org.in with the subject 'Important notice to all bank customers in India'. "Dear Account Holder, the Reserve Bank of India has introduced a new security update against online phishing in India. Download the attachment, select the bank you operate and update your account against online

RBI has issued an advisory warning against responding to any such mails. Those who have revealed their account numbers in response to the mail should immediately alert their respective bank.

Delhi filed highest number of consumer complaints

If one goes by the number of cases filed in consumer courts in Bihar and West Bengal, these two states are at the bottom of the chart when it comes to consumer rights in the country.

According to data compiled by National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, till December 2010, these states were way behind other states with similar size and population in the number of consumer cases filed.

Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh rank high in consumer awareness.

On the other hand, the commission said UP, Maharashtra, Haryana, Orissa, Punjab, Gujarat and Bihar account for almost 80 per cent of the total pendency of old cases. “

The seven sister states in the north-east have a very low registration of consumer cases. The lowest among them is Sikkim, with only 297 cases filed since the consumer courts were set up.

Among the Union territories, Delhi has the highest number of consumer complaints, followed by Chandigarh. This is the reason that Chandigarh has two district Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums.

Despite its tiny size, Chandigarh has received 42,245 cases in its district forums since inception, and 11,091 cases in its Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The disposal rate of complaints is above 90 per cent in both Delhi and Chandigarh.

Nokia the top manufacturer in India

Mobile ad network, InMobi, has revealed that the Indian mobile ad market grew by 1.5 billion ad impressions (27 per cent) between October 2010 and January 2011.

The finding is part of InMobi’s January 2011 Mobile Insights Report - India Market.

With 59 per cent market share, Nokia continues to be the top manufacturer in India, followed by Samsung with 24 per cent impression share. These two competitors account for 83 per cent of total impressions served in the Indian mobile market--and are followed by Sony Ericsson, LG and Micromax.

Bank to compensate in online fraud

Taking cognisance of misuse of technology in committing fraud, Punjab National Bank has been directed by the Banking Ombudsman to refund over Rs.7 lakh with interest to a victim.

In its recent directive, the Banking Ombudsman has asked the nationalised bank to put in place strict measures to check such illegal activities.

The curious case of phishing involves a senior manager with Dabur India Ltd, Sahibabad, who lost about Rs 8 lakh in the fraud. Read the rest of the post here.