A garment traders association in Indore has decided not to accept payments through UPI to protest against investigating agencies freezing bank accounts of "innocent" shopkeepers while probing cyber fraud cases.
Police termed the decision as wrong, and warned of legal action if a shop declined UPI payment.
"We will not be able to accept online UPI payments due to the possibility of cyber fraud," said posters put up at some garment shops in the Rajbada area.
Indore Retail Garments Association president Akshay Jain on Friday said they wanted to draw the government's attention to the losses suffered by traders due to the increase in cyber frauds.
When fraudsters pay shopkeepers through UPI apps using the proceeds of a cyber crime, the police have the bank accounts of innocent shopkeepers frozen during investigation, he said.
The traders, as a result, suffer a loss of business as well as reputation, said Jain.
"Many businessmen told me these stories. They learnt about their bank accounts being frozen only when cheques given by them to someone bounced," he said.
Hence, the association has decided that garment retailers would prefer payments in cash or through credit cards until the government resolves this issue, Jain added.
"Suppose a criminal makes a purchase using money earned through a cyber fraud, and transfers Rs 1,000 to the shopkeeper's account through UPI, then only the amount of Rs 1,000 should be frozen during the investigation. But the entire account is frozen," he said.
Rajesh Dandotia, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Crime Prevention Branch which investigates cyber frauds, said, "It is completely wrong for a shopkeeper to promote cash transactions and declare that he will not accept UPI payment. If a customer complains to the police about this, legal action will be taken."
The police official said it was true that when the proceeds of a cyber fraud are used to make a payment, the bank account to which the money has been transferred gets frozen at the police's request.
"But if the account holder produces proper documents, transactions through the account are restored," he said.
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