I am using this blog to highlight the reckless behavior by several private banks including HSBC, Standard Chartered, ICICI and HDFC (adding LICHFL on November 13, 2014 to this list
although a lot of these calls in the name of LIC were perhaps by M/s Shaha Finlease - they bought the NPAs from Standard Chartered bank - this is based on similarity in phone numbers as highlighted in later posts; the red text is added on Nov 15, 2018) in first lending credit to a dubious character by the name Manish Vinodrai Badani and then using underhanded methods and reckless goons in the form of collection agencies in tracing this defaulter. In the process I have suffered since my name is similar to Manish Vinodrai Badani.
The unfortunate thing is that although I have never taken loan or even carried forward credit card payment to following months, I got embroiled in this nonsense just because another person with similar name is one of the biggest crooks.
I am going to use this website to expose the underhanded methods the banks use in tracing this defaulter.
I received the first call from Mr. Philip Pinto (09324126306; name is Philip as per True Caller) representing HSBC Bank on February 17, 2009. His assertion was that I had taken a personal loan from HSBC-Mumbai in 2005 that was long overdue. This was a complete surprise since I have never been to any HSBC Branch. I made a return call to get more details and found that the loan account was for Manish Vinodrai Badani with DOB 13-Sep-1966 (not mine); residence at Ghatokpar (don’t have any residence in Ghatkopar). We realized that the middle name was different and there was no match of DOB, PAN number and residence.
I thought that the issue was over but for last 5 years I continued getting calls from various agencies; some too difficult to trace back. The most reckless of the lot seemed to be ICICI Bank; after escalating to Chanda Kochar, RBI Ombudsperson I finally got a written apology from them. Their Debt Department Manager Mr. Vinay Naga was shameless. He maintained that the file keeps moving from one collection agency to another and hence it was practically impossible for them to stop the calls.
On September 5, 2011 at 14:28 I got call from 02232227163 claiming to be Advocate Mhatre representing ICICI Bank. He was one of the "lower forms of life" working in Debt Department of ICICI Bank. After intervention from Senior Management of ICICI Bank and RBI Ombudsperson I got written apology from ICICI Bank along with a call from Ms. Shravanti Rao (02242186703) of ICICI Bank requesting for a personal meet to apologize.
Recently I got a call from 02266739968 claiming from HDFC Kanjurmarg on May 10, 2014 around 5:30 pm. After escalating to Mr. Aditya Puri and RBI Ombudsperson I did get an email apology. However, this event shocked me since I am a Preferred Customer of HDFC Bank for more than a decade. Even this time Mr. Ganesh Sakpal (
ganesh.sakpal@hdfcbank.com; +917498476737) first refused that a call was made to my number; even they are not forthright on how my cell number got mixed up with Manish Vinodrai's docket.
Some folks even imply that if I ever was in Mumbai I might be the same Manish Vinodrai!!! One such idiot was Ms. Pallavi Verma (02232225040) claiming to be from HSBC Legal Department. She even called my work place reception desk on August 10, 2010 to check my middle name.
Some of the other noteworthy calls that I received during the course of last 5 years.
- +919223597243 - This call was by Mr. Praful (typical Gujju accent) on behalf of ICICI bank. He had my LinkedIn profile in front of him and outright threatened to take legal action for not paying dues to ICICI Bank. ICICI Bank maintained that this person was not linked to them but surprisingly within few days after I escalated this to ICICI Bank, this SIM got deactivated.
- 04440402019 and 04440402000 - They called both at residence and my cell. Claimed to be from TRAI to confirm the customer details. The lady was agressive and gave her ID card number as A13091966Z (A to Z with DoB of Manish Vinodrai's number embedded in between!!). Could never call them back. No clue which bank they were representing.
- 08041231109 - The call originated from Bangalore by Ms. Priya. She called on behalf of a courier service for a package that was meant for Ghatkopar (Mr. Manish Vinodrai's listed address on various Fraud websites). She wanted to know an alternate address where this can be delivered !!!!
The way some of these people behaved and the kind of underhanded means they opted...it is just plain sickening and highlights the total lawlessness that prevails in this third-grade country.
The earliest date that Mr. Manish Vinodrai took loan seems to be 2005 or even before based on the call from HSBC Bank. Considering the last call that I received from HDFC Bank, it is puzzling that even after 9 years Banks are not able to trace him (even Dawood Ibrahim and Osama bin Laden were traced). Second how is it that Mr. Manish Vinodrai continues to get credit from all these banks; doesn't CIBIL come into play? My gut feel is that the GREED factor and non-complaince of KYC procedures by these banks have played a much bigger role.
Although RBI Ombudspersons have been of help, they seem to be quite helpless in putting an end to this nonsense.
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Additional text on October 9, 2014
I just got a call from
02266716715 from "All India Courier Serivce" with a package from LIC to be delivered to Ghatokopar for Manish V. Badani. The person called both at residence and then on my mobile number. The calls came around 11:50 am on October 9. 2014.
I have escalated this to Mr. Aditya Puri, Banking Ombudspersons. Considering the similarity of this number with the call received in May 2014, I strongly feel that this number belongs to collection agency of HDFC Bank. (however, it turns out this is not from HDFC Bank but from another unknown agency - comment added on Nov 8, 2014)
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Additional text on October 10, 2014
It is practically impossible to call back 02266716715 since nobody picks up the phone. However, Mr. Milin Palkar (9323671766) from HDFC Bank claimed that this number belongs to a courier service. I am puzzled by his level of confidence. Also he mentioned that the loan account docket of Mr. Manish Vinodrai Badani is sent to ITPL branch for verification. My RM, Mr. Vishal Sharma also confirmed the same. He mentioned that only 2 digits of my PAN number were matching with that of other Manish! {I am glad ;)} He wanted to meet in person with some representative of HDFC Bank but refused to put his request in writing or give details of the so called "representative". I am disgusted by the fact that rather than help trace the caller and stop nonsense, HDFC Bank is spending more time verifying my details. I have serious concerns since I hold savings account with HDFC Bank and have conveyed my concerns to Mr. Aditya Puri.
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On October 13, 2014 I got email from MD's office that the above number did not belong to HDFC Bank and hence it was not possible to pursue this further. Vishal did inform that he also had informed MD's office the differences between their defaulter and my KYC details.
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Additional text on October 18, 2014
Got another call from "courier" from 02266719767 on October 18th 2014 at 16:01 hrs. This time the person was looking for Manish V. Badani with DoB 13-Sep-1966. Apparently their records did not have middle name. He went on for 20 min. to ascertain my identity. I clearly told him that this is not my DoB but despite my repeatedly trying to find out the agency he was representing he kept on dragging the call. This number could be called back and I did share this blog with them but the person refuse to divulge the agency he was representing. But in next couple of days both 02266719767 and 02266716715 have become unreachable from my cell (give similar tone of Error in connection; I feel both the callers represent the same agency).
Two things that are both perplexing and disgusting -
1. These folks have certainly given money or loan or credit to someone
but have not even made efforts to know his middle name; how is this possible?; at the minimum aren't these jokers suppose to collect a PAN card copy before giving credit. The PAN card will have the middle name.
2. The person who called represented himself as "Courier"service. When the caller is outright lying, why do they expect the other end to be forthright and open. I still fail to understand the underhanded means these callers use while trying to trace Manish Vinodrai; not sure who is the bigger "Chor" - the son of Vinodrai Badani or the institutes who gave him loan/credit card and now using reckless and illegal means to trace him.
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Additional text on October 21, 2014
The 02266716715 and 02266719767 numbers seem to have become unreachable. Amazing how often these numbers get deactivated or defunct once I escalate these calls in various forums.
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Additional text on November 13, 2014
We got a call from 1409804302 from Mr Aman Malhotra around 11:00 am at my residence. He either was stammering or pretending to stammer and mentioned that since we have taken loan from LIC he wanted to discuss the benefits!! My wife was not sure if he mentioned Meenakshi or Manish badani and hung up but it is clear that Manish Vinodrai has also taken loan from LIC. I feel the previous two number 02266716715/19767 are also from LIC. I have to now wait and see on where this leads. Unfortunately this does not even come under the jurisdiction of RBI and I have no clue on where to escalate this matter.
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Additional text on Dec 6, 2014
I got a call from Amit Mishra from 1409801051 trying to verify my landline number and address. This was under the pretext of verifying some policy and about a dividend for the policy.
It is sickening when this lower forms of life don't even listen.
The only thing I can do is send email to
Sunita.Sharma@lichousing.com and see if she can help. Alternatively just wait and see on how this unfolds.
&
Just had a talk with Mr. Philip Pinto, who had called me in 2009; got a good insight on the whole process. It is unfortunate if any of my personal details are updated in CIBIL. It would be an effort for me to trace and stop this nonsense.
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