Don’t share your phone number at shopping malls, restaurants, cafes etc., Pune district supply officer advises

Pune district supply officer, Dinesh Taware has advised general public against disclosing one’s phone number and other personal information at shopping malls, restaurants, coffee shops etc.

The official added that it is not mandatory to disclose one’s phone number at hotels, restaurants, malls, coffee shops etc. and personal information should not be disclosed.

Phone numbers are linked to customers’ bank accounts and thus are sensitive information and no one should force a customer to reveal their phone number.

वस्तू खरेदी केल्यानंतर तसेच हॉटेल, रेस्टॉरंट किंवा कॉफी दुकानात देयक तयार करताना ग्राहकांनी आपल्या भ्रमणध्वनी क्रमांकाची माहिती देणे बंधनकारक नसून कोणीही आपली वैयक्तिक माहिती देऊ नये- जिल्हा पुरवठा अधिकारी दिनेश तावरे

— DISTRICT INFORMATION OFFICE, PUNE (@Info_Pune) August 19, 2024

Phone numbers can be used in many types of scams such as RTO challan scam, Drugs in Parcel Scam, Money Laundering Scam, Utility Disconnection Scam and many more.

As per the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ instructions dated May 26, 2023, customers are not required to provide their mobile phone numbers when making final payments after purchasing goods from shopping malls or retail merchants, or when receiving services at hotels, restaurants, or coffee shops.

“Under Section 72A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, using a mobile phone number collected at the time of sale without the consumer’s consent constitutes a breach of a legal contract. Disclosure of a customer’s personal information is a punishable offense. The law provides for imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to five lakh rupees in cases where customers suffer losses due to such breaches,” Taware said.

However, there were many reactions online with users complaining that without phone numbers, malls and other establishments cannot do billing, or cannot offer loyalty discounts or cannot schedule installation and after sales services. Many users said that the entire system needs to be revamped so that disclosing phone numbers can be avoided.

Yet another user shared that they use a separate phone number for all their financial transactions such as UPI payments and receiving bank OTPs and they don’t ever share this phone number with anyone.