Ecommerce portal for electronic products, Timtara.com’s CEO Harish Ahluwalia and Director Arindam Bose have been arrested on allegations of fraud amounting to Rs 12 lakh as per media reports. Since the arrest, the website has been carrying a notice stating, ‘The management requests general public and the customers that they should not impressed upon such news or defamatory contents on the Internet. The Company has no intention to cheat any one and is committed to act according to law. However if still any person is having any grievance against the company, he can send his compliant directly at [email protected] or at phone no. +91 9555321321.’
The company in the communiqué has blamed its competitors for maligning and defaming it in the eyes of general public.
The notice reads ‘We again assure that We are law abiding persons and have no intention to cheat anyone. We are determined to fulfill our orders or to refund the money in case of cancellation of orders. Due to the above adverse circumstances, the redressal of the grievances may take some time but we are committed to resolve all issues. Due to above circumstances we are withdrawing all discounts previously given to our customers henceforth. Please cooperate.’
As per a report carried by Times of India, there have been cases registered for fraud amounting to Rs 12 lakh and the complaints are still pouring in.
The company was founded in 2010 by Arindam Bose along with his wife and three others. Bose has worked with companies like Phillips, LG and Videocon in various capacities. Harish was a regional sales head of a small mobile phone manufacturer before joining Timtara.
“Apart from the three cases against Bose in the Timtara case registered with the EOW and Janakpuri police stations under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), he is accused of cheating in a property deal in Patiala,” police said.
The company which is operating from its Noida office has reportedly shut down its Dehradun call centre to dodge complainants, the report stated.
Timtara on IDR
India Digital Review had covered Timtara.com on our LaunchPad section. The post has garnered 17 comments from users complaining about the website authenticity.
"This a portal with malafide intentions. They have cheated many customers.I am also one of the victim. CNBC had run a programme on this portal which is still available on youtube. Beware of this site. You wont get back your money once paid. I am going to cyber crime cell for action against this protal. Others may contact me at [email protected]" (Posted on March 17th, 2013)
I paid Rs.25290 to the vendor M/S Timtara.com who promised to deliver an iPhone 4 (16 GB) in 10 days time. Even after 20 days of transaction and non receipt of the product, I asked for a refund on Nov 12, 2012. They have, till now 39 days since the transaction, the vendor have not refunded the amount (Till Dec 11, 2012).
"I understand from certain consumer forums on the Internet, that Timtara.com is a fraudulent organization and several consumers are suffering on this account. Hence, May I request the following:
1. Ban Timtara.com for seeking payments from consumers
2. Issue an advisory to all potential customers so that no one else is duped by these frauds.
You can google "Timtara" and find 100s of accounts of online frauds committed by Timtara.com" (Posted on December 11th, 2012)
Additional DCP (EOW) S D Mishra who is investigating the case has said that all three other directors, including Bose's wife, need to be questioned. "Although two of the directors also founders of the company resigned earlier, we are studying their liability. We are also inquiring how the company registered an Rs 14 crore turnover last year.”
