Subham Rai earns Rs 16 as commission for one online delivery in Mirik but about a week ago, he was taken by surprise to find out that a loan of Rs 11 lakh had been sanctioned against his name and a third party had been paying the EMI.

As Rai started enquiries, it came to light that it was not just him but the entire team of 13 “wish masters” working for Creativity At Best Technologies Pvt Ltd (CABT), a vendor that delivers items purchased online, had been sanctioned loans which together amount to more than Rs 1.5 crore without their knowledge.

“On January 5, one of our colleagues had applied for a loan to buy a vehicle. The loan agent, however, said he had an existing loan with INNOFIN. I was present and I, too, decided to check my details and found out that I had a loan,” said Subham.

CABT started operations in Mirik on August 22, 2022, said Subham. Mirik is about 35km from Darjeeling.

“The company asked us to register with an app Karmalife and we had to submit our PAN details and provide address proof while registering. We suspect our personal details have been compromised,” said Subham who added that the loan had been sanctioned a day after registering with the app.

Payments were made to the “wish masters” by CABT through Karmalife on the 15th and 25th of every month.

After the employees raised the issue with CABT, the Delhi-based company issued a statement saying the company had blocked the Karmalife account of the 10 employees of Mirik — the remaining three had quit.

“The company told us that there was a technical glitch and the loan would not get reflected from January 9. CABT also gave us an assurance that it was taking all liabilities for the Karmalife loan for this particular phone number (against which the loan was sanctioned),” said Subham, adding that the loans were still being reflected against their names.

Udit Kumar Mukherjee, assistant manager (payroll), CABT, said the firm had used the Karmalife app, which is basically a wallet, because of their payment model.

“We pay on every 15 and 25th day of the month irrespective of whether it’s a banking day or not. However, we have decided to pay their commissions through their bank accounts,” said Muherjee.

The CABT employee also said the issue would be resolved within seven working days. “The matter has been taken up with Karmalife and the issue will be solved within seven working days,” said Mukherjee.

Arbin Subba, a social worker who has been helping the 10, raised several questions. “It has to be investigated how a loan was sanctioned against someone without the consent of the beneficiary. Who is paying the EMI and what could be the source of that money?” asked Subba.

Subham and his colleagues at CABT lodged complaints with Mirik police. The cyber wing of Mirik police started a probe.