Common Scams happpening in India, list the ones you may know
- Thread starter raksrules
- Start date
sharktale1212
Skilled
I guess this Qnet thing has spread to Linkedin too. I keep getting requests who are 3rd or 4th connection. When I accept the request, they will send an inmail saying they have this great opportunity for part time business etc. Never bothered to reply to those.
mrmash
Disciple
This, and similar scams, are the reason why I lock my car even if I, or my co-passenger, step out for a second. Poor fellow, lost ~8 lacs in a flash.The "Thak thak" gang
avi
Skilled
be a good netizen and report them for spam.
This means that the people knew that there was a bag full of cash in the car. How come?The "Thak thak" gang
psyph3r
Skilled
It's a pretty common tactic to loot this way, the thieves aren't aware of the contents but are looking to make a quick buck by picking up laptop bags or luggage they suspect might contain something valuable.
With experience they just get better at identifying targets and occasionally hit the jackpot like in this case.
^^ I cannot see that photo clearly, but do you mean to say that they are charging VAT on the full price instead of the discounted price?
No they are charging VAT on the discounted price but they are giving discount on MRP (which already has the tax component in it). Therefore, they are charging double tax.
For example, the MRP of a pack of socks is ₹309/- which is ₹294.28/- cost & ₹14.72 VAT (@ 5%).
Now they are selling it for ₹249/- but adding VAT later.
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redhotiron2004
Disciple
I would like to know more about it.
Do you mean to say that MRP that's printed on the product includes the VAT as well?
I thought that VAT is leived by the state government. And the rate is different for different states.
MRP always includes all taxes. They are not charging extra VAT on products that are being sold on MRP. They are charging extra VAT only on discounted products.
rkkaranrk
Skilled
That's common practice on all major retails store like shopperstop/Reliance/Levis/ and many more.
I don't think you understand how MRP works.
MRP simply put is indicative of the maximum possible price of a product including taxes. There is no other rules about inclusion or exclusion of taxes. The final amount the customer needs to pay should be equal or less than the MRP. That's all there is to it.
For example lets say the MRP of a product is Rs 11 and the tax percentage is 10%. What it means is that a retailer can selling the product at a maximum price including taxes of Rs 11.
i.e. product price of Rs 10 and taxes of Rs 1 = Rs 11.
He cannot sell it Rs 10.5 + 1.05 = 11.55 because that would be over the MRP.
However he can give a 20% discount on the selling price of the item (Rs 10) and sell it at Rs 8 + 0.8 = 8.8 because that is below the MRP.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in changing VAT on any price point that the shop wants to sell it at as long as the combined price does not exceed the MRP.
So why is this confusing? This is because, often these retailers indicate the discount percentage as a factor of MRP while they still treat it as selling price of the product exclusive . Why do they do this? because it is easy for them and easy for you as a customer as MRP's are usually rounded numbers and products do not indicate the actual selling price because tax rates can keep changing. Also the retailer thinks in terms of selling price because that is what matters to him from business perspective. He is not concerned with the tax amount as he would have to deposit it
For instance lets say the MRP is printed as Rs 300 and tax rate is 10%. It would be easy for them to say that the selling price is percentage of that rounded MRP number than of the actual selling price like 272.73. For instance lets say that the retailer wants to sell this at 240 which is 12% off the selling price of 272.73. How does the retailer indicate to the people that they are giving a discount of 12% of the actual selling price when the selling price itself requires reverse calculation. So they will instead say that the selling price is with 20% discount on MRP of 300 which still comes out to 240 Rs. It makes the discount percentage look like a nice figure as compared to figures like 7% or 11% or 13%
They can still add tax on it because they are treating it as selling price exclusive of taxes. Some retailer also do it as a subtle misleading practice to show a bigger discount number, but there is absolutely nothing illegal or wrong about it. Ideally, I would like them to just say that they are giving a discount of 12% after the tax is added. But, often they don't put it that way.
There are also other retailers who like to treat the discounted price itself as price a inclusive of taxes and reverse calculate the selling price and taxes for billing purposes.
There are no hard and fast rules about it. The only rule is that final amount inclusive of taxes should not exceed indicated MRP.
When the retailer is selling at full MRP, its is the maximum that they can sell at, so tax component is implicitly included and they just reverse calculate the selling price and the tax for printing the invoice.
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ADrupada
Disciple
Thanks for the very valuable info guys. I've had some of these happen to me but I'm usually too busy to entertain them.
It's just cruel to be a scammer who pretends to be begging. I've helped some of these folks only to see them the next month on the same place. It's quite disheartening that some are really poor and only need food to get by and we can't know who really needs our help. I think offering food instead of money is the only way to know.
I just wish someday someone will approach and remember me as one of those who helped them get by. That will make my day
It's just cruel to be a scammer who pretends to be begging. I've helped some of these folks only to see them the next month on the same place. It's quite disheartening that some are really poor and only need food to get by and we can't know who really needs our help. I think offering food instead of money is the only way to know.
I just wish someday someone will approach and remember me as one of those who helped them get by. That will make my day
Well this is misleading practice. There were people who were confused over this at the billing counter. They show a better discount than actually what a customer has to pay.
Another misleading concept - discount coupons given in some of the big shops like Brand Factory, Reliance Trends etc.
Which works like - you get a discount coupon of say Rs 1000 when shopping for Rs 5000.
But the catch is you can apply the discount coupon on your next shopping only if your bill amount exceeds Rs 5000 (or so).
This is confusing and misleading and normally isn't told/written upfront. I was duped once and later I found many angry customer throwing away those coupons at the Customer Help Desk.
Being.smart
Adept
lolz you got scammed, just took the bill copy to the local sales tax office, and see the shop-keeper running around you to take the case back
MRP > includes all taxes, and in no way a shop-keeper can charge above MRP.
This is the sole reason, why KFC sells kinley bottle which is marked at Rs.40 MRP , since they can't charge Rs.40 for a bottle which is marked at Rs.15 as MRP