<p>False advertising — showcasing a premium item and delivering a substandard one — is a growing problem in Bengaluru.</p>.<p>Psychiatrist Dr Vinod Jain, a resident of Jayanagar, ordered a Bose bluetooth speaker on a leading news website. What he got was a tacky China brand, with no resemblance to the item advertised. The delivery boy, when questioned, threatened to physically harm Jain.</p>.<p>“This is a complete con job and has to be stopped. A lot of people are falling prey to it,” he told Metrolife.</p>.<p>Jain, who has also worked in London, says the Indian government must come up with a consumer rights protection system like the one in the UK, where a complaint is enough to bust a racket of this sort.</p>.<p>The advertisement used a picture of a Bose speaker that costs Rs 16,200 on Amazon, and offered it for just Rs 3,990.</p>.<p>Lal Krishna, an IT professional from RT Nagar, ordered a JBL speaker online. “I clicked on the link given on an Instagram page by name ‘khaler_singh’. It took me to another website. A product priced at Rs 11,000 was available at Rs 2,500,” he says.</p>.<p>The website looked genuine, with an email address and a return policy. Krishna went ahead and placed the order.</p>.<p>“The product was delivered in three business days. Later that night, when I opened the package, I was shocked to find a low-quality speaker,” he says.</p>.<p> His emails and calls went unanswered.</p>.<p>“Later when I checked the website, the advertisement was no longer visible,” says Krishna.</p>.<h3>Jail for brand endorsers</h3>.<p>The Consumer Protection Bill of 2018 seeks to jail celebrities making false endorsements with a penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh. No celebrity has been penalised or jailed so far for making fake endorsements.</p>.<h3>Model booked for cheat link</h3>.<p>Earlier this week, model and Bigg Boss 11 contestant Bandgi Kalra was booked following a complaint filed by an engineering student in Bengaluru.</p>.<p>She had posted a link to an advertisement for iPhone X on her Instagram account. It was priced at Rs 61,000, while its market price is Rs. 1,03,990.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj Singh Yadav, who followed her on Instagram, got a cheap Chinese phone and not an iPhone. He has filed a complaint with the Marathahalli police.</p>.<h3>Conned? <br />Here’s what you can do</h3>.<p>In case of online cheating, the consumer can approach the cyber police or the jurisdictional police station directly and initiate criminal prosecution, without issuing any notice, says advocate K B K Swamy. “Such online cases can be dealt with both under the cyber crime and the consumer protection laws,” he told Metrolife.</p>
<p>False advertising — showcasing a premium item and delivering a substandard one — is a growing problem in Bengaluru.</p>.<p>Psychiatrist Dr Vinod Jain, a resident of Jayanagar, ordered a Bose bluetooth speaker on a leading news website. What he got was a tacky China brand, with no resemblance to the item advertised. The delivery boy, when questioned, threatened to physically harm Jain.</p>.<p>“This is a complete con job and has to be stopped. A lot of people are falling prey to it,” he told Metrolife.</p>.<p>Jain, who has also worked in London, says the Indian government must come up with a consumer rights protection system like the one in the UK, where a complaint is enough to bust a racket of this sort.</p>.<p>The advertisement used a picture of a Bose speaker that costs Rs 16,200 on Amazon, and offered it for just Rs 3,990.</p>.<p>Lal Krishna, an IT professional from RT Nagar, ordered a JBL speaker online. “I clicked on the link given on an Instagram page by name ‘khaler_singh’. It took me to another website. A product priced at Rs 11,000 was available at Rs 2,500,” he says.</p>.<p>The website looked genuine, with an email address and a return policy. Krishna went ahead and placed the order.</p>.<p>“The product was delivered in three business days. Later that night, when I opened the package, I was shocked to find a low-quality speaker,” he says.</p>.<p> His emails and calls went unanswered.</p>.<p>“Later when I checked the website, the advertisement was no longer visible,” says Krishna.</p>.<h3>Jail for brand endorsers</h3>.<p>The Consumer Protection Bill of 2018 seeks to jail celebrities making false endorsements with a penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh. No celebrity has been penalised or jailed so far for making fake endorsements.</p>.<h3>Model booked for cheat link</h3>.<p>Earlier this week, model and Bigg Boss 11 contestant Bandgi Kalra was booked following a complaint filed by an engineering student in Bengaluru.</p>.<p>She had posted a link to an advertisement for iPhone X on her Instagram account. It was priced at Rs 61,000, while its market price is Rs. 1,03,990.</p>.<p>Yuvaraj Singh Yadav, who followed her on Instagram, got a cheap Chinese phone and not an iPhone. He has filed a complaint with the Marathahalli police.</p>.<h3>Conned? <br />Here’s what you can do</h3>.<p>In case of online cheating, the consumer can approach the cyber police or the jurisdictional police station directly and initiate criminal prosecution, without issuing any notice, says advocate K B K Swamy. “Such online cases can be dealt with both under the cyber crime and the consumer protection laws,” he told Metrolife.</p>