ED summonses to have QR codes, passwords to check authenticity

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will issue QR coded and password-bearing summonses during money laundering and foreign exchange violation probes after it was found that some unscrupulous persons were issuing fake notices to extort money from individuals.

In a statement, the probe agency said to allow individuals to verify the authenticity of the summons received, the Enforcement Directorate has implemented a mechanism of generating notices through the system.

“Accordingly, officials of ED have been instructed to issue summonses only through the system except in certain exceptional circumstances,” it said.

The summons generated from the system shall be duly signed and stamped by the official issuing the summons and shall also contain his/her official email id and the phone number for correspondence purposes, the statement said.

The novelty of the new process would be that “the system-generated summons shall bear a QR code and a unique passcode at the bottom.”

The receiver can verify the authenticity of the summons by scanning the QR code and entering the unique passcode on the ED website page, which will open following scanning the QR code, after 24 hours of receipt of the summons (excluding public holidays, Saturdays and Sundays), the statement said.

The agency said it was undertaking the new measure following multiple instances of unscrupulous persons sending summons to individuals for cheating or extortion.

It said a probe was conducted into these cases by ED.

Based on a complaint filed by the ED, the Delhi Police arrested four people who were involved in issuing fake notice for appearance, impersonating as ED officers, the statement said.

“These fake summonses are often similar to the genuine ones issued by ED. Hence, it is difficult for individuals to distinguish between the fake and genuine summons,” it said.

The Enforcement Directorate said those summonses which could not be generated through the system can be verified by contacting the designated point of contact over telephone or email.

“The detailed procedure required to be followed for verification of summons including the details of the designated points of contact are available on the official website of the ED,” the statement said.