Fake Franchises of Burger King: Delhi HC Asks Police To Take Action on Culprits

The Delhi High Court has recently asked the city police to investigate and take action against those involved in duping unsuspecting people of their money with bogus offers of issuing Burger King dealerships and franchises.

Justice Prathiba M Singh stated Delhi Police shall obtain all call detail records (CDR) of the mobile phone numbers that were being used for the operations and investigate the racket.

The court in a recent order stated that, “All action in accordance with law shall be taken against the persons who are involved in this illegal and unlawful activity. If an FIR needs to be registered, the same may also be done.”

The court stated and asked it to file a status report by the next date of hearing on September 27, “The Cyber Cell/IFSO Delhi Police is allowed to investigate the mobile numbers and take action in accordance with law.”

Furthermore, the court’s order came on a lawsuit by American fast food chain Burger King Corporation highlighting that certain fraudulent websites were unauthorisedly using the ‘Burger King’ name, which resulted in an unsuspecting consumer, who wanted to obtain a Burger King franchise, paying Rs 2.65 lakh to the bank account of an offending website.

The court restrained 2 such websites from using the mark or name ‘Burger King’ or its logo for any purpose, including for collecting money under the garb of issuing franchises, dealerships etc while directing the authorities concerned to block the online platforms.

Justice Singh directed that the bank account, which was being used for the activity, shall be frozen with immediate effect, stating that there was an urgent need to stop any further amounts being received in such accounts.

Also, the judge asked bank to place on record the statement of account as well as investigate “how a bank account in the name of `Burger Kind India Pvt Ltd’ has been permitted to be opened, without verifying the credentials”.

It also directed the bank to disclose the identity of the account holder, KYC details and any other documents, which it may have.

The court stated, “All these domain names and websites, as well as the bank accounts operated through these domain names, are being used to fraudulently collect money under the name of the Plaintiff by misusing the Plaintiff’s brand and marks. There is an urgent need to stop any further amounts being received in these fraudulent bank accounts.”