Gas fraud rising, warns PNGRB
Alarmed at the growing number of cyber fraud cases, the PNGRB has directed city gas retailers to raise awareness among piped gas customers.
Fraudsters are posing as city gas retail officials and collecting money from unsuspecting customers. In a single-page public notice issued on August 12 (2024), PNGRB secretary Vandana Sharma said gas retailers "need to take note of such fraudulent activities conducted by unknown individuals in the guise of entity staff against the piped gas consumers."
Sharma advised them to create awareness through SMS, email, WhatsApp, newspaper articles, bill warnings or "any other appropriate method deemed suitable." Also, city gas retailers should prominently display emergency numbers, contact details of officers with critical roles, bill payment options and a designated list of cash collection centres on their websites.
A source says fraudsters connect with piped gas customers through calls, SMS and WhatsApp messages. "They warn the unsuspecting consumers that their piped gas services will be disconnected because of the non-payment of gas bills," we hear.
"Customers are under such pressure that, without even checking anything, they just pay the bill and lose their money." A PNGRB source worries about how this will affect the sector's growth.
City gas retail is still growing, and we have more than 13m household piped gas connections," he says. "In the coming years, this number is expected to increase many times."
At a PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry conference on March 14 (2024), Delhi police cybercrime joint commissioner B Shanker Jaiswal said: "There has been a significant increase of 60.9% in cybercrime from 2022 to 2023 resulting in Rs10,000cr ($1.2bn) lost in the past three years."