Consumer Awareness:

Banking:

RBI Advisory: Security Enrollment For All Bank Users

Do Not Pay Money to receive Large Funds from Abroad: RBI Advisory 
The Reserve Bank has time and again issued an advisory cautioning the members of public against responding in any manner to offers of moneys from abroad. It has stated that such offers are fraudulent and has advised the public to immediately register a complaint with the local police/ cyber crime authorities when they receive such offers or become a victim of any such fraud.

Members of public have also been cautioned against making any remittance towards participation in such schemes/offers from unknown entities since such remittances are illegal and any resident in India collecting and effecting/remitting such payments directly/indirectly outside India is liable to be proceeded against for contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999. They are also liable for violation of regulations relating to Know Your Customer (KYC) norms/Anti Money Laundering (AML) standards. The Reserve Bank has further stated that it does not undertake any type of money arrangement, by whatever name called, and it does not take any responsibility for recovering moneys remitted in response to such bogus communication.

For any further clarification in the matter, the Reserve Bank has advised the public to contact the officials of the Foreign Exchange Department at its various Regional Offices or at its Central Office, Foreign Exchange Department on telephone numbers 022- 22610589 / 22610618 or 2260 1000 extn. 2772 / 2732 during office hours (9.45 hours to 17.45 hours Monday to Friday) or seek clarification by e-mail . The public may also refer to the cautionary advices hosted on the home page of the RBI website (www.rbi.org.in) as a ticker for more information. The Reserve Bank has stated that it has urged the Indian Banks Association and banks to educate their customers to be extra vigilant with regard to such fictitious offers. Banks have also been advised to take up with law enforcing agencies whenever accounts of their customers are misused for such fraudulent activities. 

How do the Fraudsters operate? 

The Reserve Bank of India has, on several occasions in the past, cautioned the members of public not to fall prey to fictitious offers / lottery winnings / remittance of cheap funds in foreign currency from abroad by so-called foreign entities/ individuals or to Indian residents acting as representatives of such entities/individuals. Describing the manner in which the fraudsters operate, the Reserve Bank has stated that the fraudsters send attractive offers to gullible public through letters, e-mails, mobile phones, SMSs, etc. To lend credence to such offers, the communication is often sent on/ from letterheads /websites that appear to be like that of some public authorities like the Reserve Bank of India. The offers are apparently signed by top executives/senior officials of such authorities. However, only the names of the officials may be correct but their signatures are faked. The offer document would contain contact details of a so-called RBI officer working in some department in the Reserve Bank/Public Authorities. 

The fraudsters initially ask potential victims to deposit small sums of money for different official sounding reasons, such as, processing fees/ transaction fees/tax clearance charges/conversion charges, clearing fees, etc. The victims are asked to deposit the money in certain accounts in banks. The fraudsters often have multiple accounts in the name of individuals or proprietary concerns in different bank branches for collecting such charges.

Often gullible genuine account holders are persuaded by the fraudsters to lend their accounts for such fraudulent activities on the promise of receiving some commission. Once the initial amount is deposited, demands for more money follow with more official sounding reasons. After accumulating a sizeable amount in these accounts, the fraudsters withdraw or transfer the money abroad and vanish leaving the victims in a lurch. Many residents have already become victims and have lost huge sums of money by falling for such fictitious offers

 

Rs 1000 COIN, A SOLUTION AGAINST FAKE CURRENCY

It is no secret huge amount of Rs 1000 counterfeit notes are in circulation. For an ordinary person it is an uphill task to distinguish which note is original and which is fake. It is more remunerative for people in fake currency to print Rs 1000 denomination notes as it fetches them maximum value for the action.

Today on 12th August 2011 parliament by passing Coinage Bill 2009 allowing for the first time minting of Rs 1000 denominated coin, have pushed the criminals in fake currency out of business. This will be a big relief for consumers. This action shows Government means business to curb the menace which is long overdue and just not removing chavani coin. 

Circulation of fake currency is so rampant in the country that even ATMs vending machine also deliver counterfeit notes. Even RBI has to warn that fake notes have been detected in the 2AQ and 8AC series. This clarification become necessary after a builder in Chennai received fake notes from SBI ATM machine. Another person PSU employee Sherwin Pinto received one fake note out of Rs 8000 he withdrew from ATM in Mumbai when he deposit the same in another nationalized bank cashier at counter return the same as fake. Sherwin tried his level best to argue with bankers that this particular fake note is part of Rs 8000 he withdrew. 

Sherwin Pinto was asked to prove what is impossible, provide proofs that fake note indeed were dispensed by ATM Machine. Not to bow down he approached the Banking Ombudsman only to be told that this dispute of this nature did not come within the rules framed under the Banking Ombudsman Act and they had no jurisdiction to handle this matter. Alas his money and efforts goes in vain. 

It should also be understood that knowingly fake currency should not be passed otherwise it become cognizable offence in law that could lead a person to imprisonment. Reserve Bank of India had issued Master Circular DCM (FNVD) no. G-1/6.01.05/ 2007-08 dated July 2, 2007 and updating the same from time to time; relating to mandatory stamping and impounding of the counterfeit banknote after due detection process. 

As the process of minting Rs 1000 coin will take some time, people with very ease can detect a fake note even without magnifying glasses, with just 3 simple steps: 

- Hold the Rs1000 note against the light, the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, the multi- directional lines and an electrotype mark showing the denominational number 1000 appear in this section.

- To be sure focus on 3mm wide security thread with inscriptions Bharat            1000 and RBI and color shift from green to blue when viewed from different angles. It will fluoresce in yellow on the reverse and the text will fluoresce on the obverse under ultraviolet light. The tread is visible as a continuous line from behind when held up against light. 

- You will notice year of printing on back of original Rs 1000 currency note.

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Weights & Measures :

Highlights of new Weights & Measures Act and Rules...

From 1st April 2011, the Legal Metrology Act 2009 had repealed the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976 and the Standards of Weights and Measures (Enforcement) Act, 1985.

As per the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 which repealed the Standards of Weights and Measures Rules, 1977, few 
pro-consumer changes are as follows:

1) Retail sale price means the maximum price at which the commodity in packaged form may be sold to the consumer and the price shall be printed on the package in the manner given below; 'Maximum or Max. retail price......inclusive of all taxes or in the form MRP Rs.........incl., of all taxes after taking into account the fraction of less than fifty paisa to be rounded off to the preceding rupees and fraction of above 50 paise and up to 95 paise to the rounded off to fifty paise. No retail dealer or other person including manufacturer, packer, importer and wholesale dealer shall make any sale of any commodity in packed form at a price exceeding the retail sale price thereof. Rounding of paise and importer was not there in the Standards of Weights and Measures Rules, 1977. 

2) Any advertisement mentioning the retail sale price of the pre-packaged commodity shall contain a declaration as to the net quantity or number of the commodity contained in the package. The font size of the net quantity in the advertisement shall be same as that of retail sale price. It is a new addition. 

3) It is mandatory to declare the name and address of the importer of foreign goods on the packet. In the Standards of Weights and Measures Rules, 1977, it was not mandatory. 

4) Stickers not to be used even for making non - mandatory declarations on the package i.e. no sticker is allowed on the packet. In the Standards of Weights and Measures Rules, 1977, 
stickers were allowed for making any declarations other than mandatory.