Residing in foreign shores, but not completely severed from their roots in India, they are crippled by a sense of insecurity and restlessness, coupled with lost peace of mind. With their businesses, houses and properties still here, legal tangles keep them occupied during their visit home. Consumer forums in the UT are receiving an increasing number of cases pertaining to NRIs. The cases being filed at the forums range from embezzlement of shares, fraud by real estate companies and deficiency in services by banks to those against interior decorators, airlines, travel agents and capital firms where their investments are at stake.
Their problems with unscrupulous recruitment agents and the roadblocks they face in setting up businesses, too, find way to the forums. And most of the NRIs don’t hire a lawyer.
They prefer to fight their cases on their own.
Most of these complainants are in the age group of 40 to 60 and according to consumer experts, they are usually from Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The experts say false documents and unreliable title deeds, even after validation by advocates, have seen many NRIs taking the builders to court. “Though there is no such data available, we are witnessing more cases pertaining to NRIs. It is seen that most of the NRIs don’t have any local knowledge and thus easily fall prey to dubious property frauds or lose their stakes in investment,” says K C Gupta, president of the UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
With UT consumer forums having a quick disposal rate, many NRIs are ready to spend time in the country fighting for their rights.
