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By:

Bhaskar Nath Biswal

13 May 2026 at 8:30:30 pm

E-Commerce’s Hidden Threat

The modern Indian marketplace no longer echoes exclusively with the chaotic bustle of traditional bazaars. Instead, it thrives within the silent, instantaneous clicks of smartphone screens. From monthly groceries to high-end electronics, digital retail has fundamentally altered how households across the country consume goods. This transition has undoubtedly unleashed unprecedented convenience, democratizing access to products for millions living outside metro cities. However, this...

E-Commerce’s Hidden Threat

The modern Indian marketplace no longer echoes exclusively with the chaotic bustle of traditional bazaars. Instead, it thrives within the silent, instantaneous clicks of smartphone screens. From monthly groceries to high-end electronics, digital retail has fundamentally altered how households across the country consume goods. This transition has undoubtedly unleashed unprecedented convenience, democratizing access to products for millions living outside metro cities. However, this hyper-connected landscape has also exposed a deeply troubling reality. As digital storefronts expand, so does the shadowy ecosystem of cybercriminals eager to exploit the trust and vulnerabilities of unsuspecting shoppers. The digital transaction, once celebrated as a triumph of modern engineering, is increasingly fraught with unseen hazards. Protecting consumers from e-shopping fraud has now become an urgent national imperative. Fraud Surge The sheer scale of India’s e-commerce revolution provides vital context for why online shopping has become such a high-stakes arena. Recent market estimates indicate that India’s e-commerce economy has surged well beyond $140 billion, driven by over 300 million active digital shoppers. Projections show this user base rapidly swelling toward 400 million, largely fuelled by deep internet penetration, affordable smart phones and seamless payment infrastructure like the Unified Payments Interface across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Yet, this remarkable surge in commercial volume has been mirrored by an equally dramatic escalation in cybercrime statistics. Official records from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal reveal that citizens have filed over 3.8 million cyber fraud complaints, representing staggering financial losses exceeding Rs. 36,000 crore, with a significant portion stemming from fraudulent online retail schemes. Perhaps most alarming is the historical recovery rate, where less than one percent of stolen funds is successfully returned to victims once transactions cross cyber borders. Despite the pervasive presence of online threats, digital consumers frequently fall into predictable traps that expose them to severe risk. A primary misstep is the failure to maintain basic password hygiene, with millions of shoppers reusing weak or identical passwords across multiple e-commerce platforms and email accounts, enabling attackers to execute swift cascading breaches. Furthermore, shoppers frequently bypass critical verification steps in pursuit of speed, such as failing to verify whether a website domain uses secure, encrypted connections before typing in card credentials. Another widespread oversight is performing financial transactions over unsecured public Wi-Fi networks in cafes or transport hubs, which allows bad actors to intercept sensitive data packets in transit. Many consumers also neglect regular software updates on their smartphones, leaving unpatched security vulnerabilities wide open to malware. Above all, emotional urgency remains the greatest weakness. Impulsive buyers frequently ignore glaring red flags, such as suspicious payment requests or unverified seller profiles. Decoding Scams Recognizing that awareness is the frontline of defence, key industry players and digital safety advocates have begun taking structured action. A prominent example is the consumer handbook, ‘Your Guide to Safe Online Shopping’, developed by Safer Internet India and commissioned by Amazon. The initiative aims to demystify complex cyber security concepts and provide consumers with actionable, real-world tools to navigate the digital marketplace safely. The handbook shines a bright light on the most prevalent fraudulent tactics currently plaguing buyers. To combat these threats, the safety guide emphasizes a multi-layered approach to consumer protection. It urges shoppers to verify web addresses meticulously, refrain from sharing one-time passwords and avoid conducting transactions off authorized brand platforms. Equally important, the guide bridges the gap between technical vigilance and legal empowerment by outlining explicit consumer rights under Indian laws and detailing formal grievance redressal mechanisms. A sustainable defence against online shopping fraud requires an integrated, multi-stakeholder strategy that aligns consumer awareness, corporate accountability and robust law enforcement. E-commerce platforms must continue investing aggressively in advanced artificial intelligence tools to detect cloned websites, eliminate fake merchant accounts and intercept suspicious payment flows before they reach consumers. Concurrently, regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies must strengthen real-time intervention frameworks, expanding initiatives like the 1930 cyber crime helpline and emergency account-freezing protocols to minimize financial damage when breaches happen. On the demand side, continuous public awareness campaigns, modelled after comprehensive handbooks, must reach deep into semi-urban and rural regions where first-time internet users are most susceptible to manipulation. Ultimately, building a safe digital shopping environment is about preserving trust. Only when digital literacy keeps pace with technological innovation can India truly reap the economic rewards of its e-commerce revolution without sacrificing the security of its citizens. (The writer is a former college Principal and Founder of Supporting Shoulders, an Odisha-based non-profit Trust. Views personal.)

Brawls rock Lilavati Hospital

Trustee, staffers engage in public slanging matches

Mumbai:  The prestigious Lilavati Hospital in Bandra west, much in the slimelight for various reasons, witnessed at least three public brawls peppered with choicest abuses and near-fisticuffs among a Permanent Trustee and certain staffers, sources said.

 

The showdowns took place in October 2024, January and February 2025 that willy-nilly exposed some scams inside the hallowed portals of the hospital – ranging from corruption to sexist behaviour, besides the alleged spectre of ‘black magic’ that was admitted by the authorities there in March 2025 – raising many questions of the murky goings-on.

 

One incident concerned a Permanent Trustee Rajiv Kishor Mehta, son of the Trustees Kishor Mehta (who died in May 2024) and Charu Mehta, besides being son-in-law of diamantaire and erstwhile Bollywood's moneybags mogul, Bharat Shah.

 

Rajiv Kishor Mehta claimed that a Vice-President and Head of Purchase Shubham Bardhan – said to be loyal to another Permanent Trustee Rajesh Kishor Mehta (twin brother of Rajiv Kishor Mehta) entrusted with the critical supply chain management - was appointed as a co-signatory with any Trustee in Dec. 2024, but without a formal Board Resolution.

 

Rajiv described Bardhan with unsavoury words like - ‘uncouth, uncultured, rodent, amateur, robber, alcoholic, mental patient having a split personality disorder and sex-predator’ - who physically prevented him from inspecting the hospital’s 12th floor on Feb. 1, where deluxe suites are planned.

 

When Rajiv asked to examine the materials department where medical and other supplies were carelessly stored, Bardhan’s team asked him to take prior permission of his twin-brother (Rajesh Kishor Mehta). As he waited there, Bardhan plus his staffers and some security guards barged towards him menacingly.

 

Though Rajiv beat a retreat, he shot off a stinker to the COO Dr. Niraj Uttamani and all the Trustees, demanded security for self as Bardhan would have pushed him from the 12th floor that day, probe and suspension of Bardhan, and action by a sexual harassment panel for his alleged sexual exploitation of women staffers.

 

The hospital’s Guest Relations Department chief Mayuri Kulkarni recounted two other instances of January 2025 and October 2024, hinting at questionable intentions by Bardhan to some female staffers. (both letters viewed by The Perfect Voice).

 

Bardhan threw his designation and the matter reached the COO Dr. Uttamani and Permanent Trustee Rajiv, where Kulkarni narrated how she and other women were insulted, humiliated as their modesty was hurt in a public forum.

With the latest revelations, some ex-Trustees and officials in the know want the Charity Commissioner, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and other concerned agencies to intervene. 

 

Permanent Trustee exposes ‘commission-scam’

Lilavati Hospital’s Permanent Trustee Rajiv Kishor Mehta unwittingly laid bare an alleged ‘commission scam’ involving Bardhan and implicating twin-brother and Permanent Trustee Rajesh Kishor Mehta.

 

Rajiv accused Bardhan of openly demanding and pocketing commissions from external manufacturers, suppliers and vendors which was giving a bad image to the hospital. Going further, he contended that the VP (Bardhan) of Lilavati Hospital was the only one in Mumbai seeing such cuts, and those who failed to pay up were struck off the hospital list.

 

“I have personally received complaints about him asking money under-the-table by various pharmaceutical companies, equipment companies and surgical suppliers. One vendor even admitted to this in front of Dr. Uttamani, Gauti Bhatia, Peter D’Souza and myself. The man (Bardhan) is a complete blot to the 3 decades of reputation built by our founding fathers,” said Rajiv.

 

Besides threatening the suppliers of discontinuing their business with Lilavati Hospital, Rajiv said that Bardhan regularly summons young female employees of many departments to his room ‘for reasons best known to him’, or how he greeted them as ‘Hello, Beautiful ladies!’, barges into their rooms, made highly sexist and perverse remarks at them, and at least two harassed women wanted to quit their jobs.

 

“This man Shubham is a characterless, greedy and the worst employee in the history of Lilavati Hospital. I need complete protection from him as he may cause grievous harm to me and my family members and many of the ladies working in our erstwhile hospital,” said Rajiv Kishor Mehta.

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