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BENGALURU: French sporting goods retailer Decathlon has made it clear that it won’t do business with customers who don’t wish to share their contact details. This comes days after its Chikkajala outlet declined to sell items to a top IAS officer when he refused to provide his contact numbers.

The development comes in the backdrop of Bengaluru police advising citizens not to share their mobile numbers at shops and other outlets in malls, to ensure they are not vulnerable to cybercrime.

P Manivannan, secretary, labour and information departments, who had declined to provide his contact numbers at the Chikkajala store, took up the matter with Decathlon, BBMP and the consumer affairs department.

In its response to Manivannan, the retailer said: “It is our company’s firm stance that we will not take the risk of selling to a customer whom we can’t contact for any emergencies or whose purchase history is not recorded in our database. Under the Indian Contract Act of 1872, we unfortunately will have to refuse sale to you purely for the reason that we don’t want to risk any liability on us.”

Manivannan, however, told TOI: “As far as I know, there is no such law. Decathlon has taken umbrage under the Indian Contract Act 1872 and says unless we ‘agree’ and enter into a contract with them to give our number, the company will not deal with us. Why would BBMP allow this to happen to denizens?”

“It is essential for us to collect customers’ mobile numbers or email IDs at the time of billing to ensure we can reach out to them if we need to proactively communicate with them on any critical information relating to user safety or in the rare instance of a product recall,” Decathlon said, elaborating its stand to TOI.

Dr Ashok R Patil, chair professor, chair of consumer law and practice, National Law School of India University, said any insistence on the consumer having to share his contact details with an outlet to buy goods amounts to restrictive trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

He said if that’s the case, outlets should inform the public before they step into their stores, saving them the trouble and time. “Many don’t prefer to share their contact details and they should not be turned away. What if someone doesn’t have an email ID or a contact number?” he wondered.

Patil has now taken up the issue with Sujata Hosmani, additional director, food and civil supplies and consumer affairs department.

“There’s no rationale behind collecting contact information for customer safety and product recall. It’s the consumer’s discretion whether to provide contact information while purchasing goods. Now-a-days many business providers collect contact information and use it for business promotion through advertisements, violating privacy rights of consumers,” he wrote to Hosamani.

The additional director confirmed having received the letter and said they’ve sought additional details from Patil.

Don’t share info: Top cop

Responding to Manivannan’s experience, police commissioner Bhaskar Rao tweeted that the first step to stop cybercrime is not to share one’s mobile number with shops and mall outlets. “Just refuse. Your number is sold as data. By giving your number you have opened your cyber doors to all,” he said.

Another IAS officer Navjot Khosa, managing director of Kerala Medical Services Corporation, tweeted, “This is a huge nuisance and its being blindly practised esp in malls etc. I refuse to share my contact details every time..but it needs to be taken up legally. Kudos to u sir for initiating this conversation (sic).”

Responding to a Twitter user referring to WhatsApp calls from other countries, Rao tweeted, “Just ignore, it has happened to me too; from a shopping mall you must been, they must have sold your database... (sic).”

‘Data sharing aiding criminals’

Vineet Kumar of Cyber Peace Foundation said sharing contact details can lead to many cybercrimes. “The data-sharing business is thriving and posing a threat. There are stores which even collect customers’ dates of birth and marriage, which again helps criminals in siphoning off their money,” he added.

