Meesho files criminal complaints against fraudulent users

Meesho, a Bengaluru-based social e-commerce marketplace, has filed several criminal complaints against fraudulent users who had sent unconsented orders to its customers.

The announcement comes after the Bengaluru-based B2B commerce platform was facing purported allegations of people sending fraudulent orders through its platform.

According to a release, Meesho has filed complaints both in Kolkata and Bengaluru, implying that the majority of the unsolicited orders came from these locations. While Meesho's founder, Vidit Aatrey, tweeted that the company has a zero-tolerance policy for any misuse of the platform.

Additionally, The startup said in a statement that it will collaborate with the local authorities in their inquiry and will work closely with them. "At Meesho, we make relentless efforts to provide a safe and seamless platform experience to our sellers, entrepreneurs, and end customers. We have a no-tolerance policy towards any misuse," the startup said in a statement.

Though 0.01% of orders were unconsented, the social commerce firm says it had taken many steps on the backend to prevent this from happening again in the future, it added.

Earlier this month, Meesho had faced a legal notification from BananaIP Counsels, a law firm. The legal warning was sent to the social commerce platform in response to a fraudulent order sent to the managing director of the law company. Shadowfax, the logistics partner, and Manish Kumar Sharma, the parcel's sender, were also sent with legal papers.

Following that matter, BananaIP Counsels also asked Google to remove the Meesho app from the Google Play Store because it breached Google's Developer Content Policy, Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020.

Meesho later reimbursed the amount it had been charged for the fraudulent order.

After Meesho has joined the unicorn club in the second week of April, social media has been swamped with reports of Meesho orders being delivered without approval.

There were a few cases where consumers claimed they had never used the app but were shocked to discover that it had kept their addresses and phone numbers. Back then, Aatrey took to Twitter to address user concerns, admitting that the startup has seen an increase in incidences of platform misuse by some resellers, who are delivering "unconsented" purchases to its customers.

He said that Meesho had used Data Science algorithms to detect and block such criminals' accounts.

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