Complaint Details

Status	:	Closed
Complaint No	:	0060519/2016
Category	:	Service Provider
Date	:	26-02-2016
Subject Line	:	Illegal & Fraudulent Recruiting Agency
Complainant	:	Dr.Vijayaraj Antin
Address	:	Junior Doctors Quarters,Wanless Hospital
Complainee	:	Al Wajiha Interface Company
Address	:	Office 21 & 22,4th floor, Royal Towers,Near Phoenix Market City,Above Shri Krishna Hotel,Near Viman Nagar Post office, International Airport Road,Viman Nagar

Complaint Details
Sir/Madam,

In response to an advertisement in "The Times of India", job advertisement section " Times Ascent,", dated 13/01/2016,Wednesday,I sent my application and CV to Al Wajiha, for the post of 'Specialist in General Surgery' in Doha,Qatar. They responded to my application,by E-mail,on 28/01/2016 and also,by Phone calls and SMS,and asked me attend an interview in thier Pune Office(address of thier Office was sent to me, by you,by SMS) on 02/02/2016,Tuesday,at 11am.
  I responded to their calls and SMS,attended interview in thier office,on 02/02/2016,from 11.00am to 12.40pm.During this interview,conducted by two female staff(one Assistant Manager & other staff's designation,not known), I was asked to introduce myself,was shown a video of Qatar(,by Qatar Tourism), told about the various aspects of job(including-Basic Salary,Allowances like Housing,Conveyance, Medical Benefits,Education of Children,Yearly Leave,Yearly Flight Tickets,Bonus for Every Year Completed,Number of  Leaves per Year,etc).Then,two video testimonials of Doctors,sent by Al Wajiha Interface Company,to Doha,Qatar were shown to me.First testimonial was in Kannada,by a Internal Medicine Doctor,from Karnataka and second was in English,by a Dentist,from Mumbai.After this,I was told about various charges of Al Wajiha, to take up my case and to complete the recruitment process.I was told that first,I have to register with AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY,by paying Rs.51,999/-.Then,once you start the process,I will have to pay 2months salary,which I will be getting in Qatar.Half in advance and remaining half,at the time of signing the job contract. Since,everything seemed to be in order(AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY,job description, salary package and the Doctors Testimonials),I agreed to register with Al Wajiha and start the recruitment process by Al Wajiha.Al Wajiha staff asked me to send an e-mail,mentioning the same & I sent this e-mail from my mobile.In reply to this,Al Wajiha staff(Assistant Manager),sent a SMS,with the account detals and they asked me to pay the registration amount of Rs.51,999/-, before 2pm,that day.Immediately after getting the SMS,I did an online transaction and transfered Rs.51,999/- into Al Wajiha's account,by NEFT.After that,I was called back to Al Wajiha's office and was given a bond and told to go through it.After I read that bond,which basically mentioned that I will not hold Al Wajiha responsible for anything
n the future(including monetery loss),I was asked to sign that bond.I signed that bond.I was not given any reciept for Rs.51,999/-,which I had paid for registration with Al Wajiha. After signing that bond,I left Pune and came back to Miraj and started my routine life.
However,on Thursday evening, 04/02/2016,I got a call from Al Wajiha (Female Assistant Manager).The reason for calling me, was regarding payment of my 2months salary(which I was supposed to get in Qatar,after the recruitment process).I was informed by her that my two months salary will be 60,000 Qatari Riyals and at an exchange rate of 1 Qatari Riyal=Rs.22/-,with 14.5% tax,the total amount which I have to pay Al Wajiha was Rs.15,11,400/-. 50% of this amount(Rs.7,55,700/-) was to be paid immediately and rest,Rs.7,55,700/-,to be paid,before signing the contract.When I was told to pay such a huge sum of money,I was a bit hesitant.Because Rs.7,55,700/- was a very big amount and I was planning to take a personal loan from bank,to pay this amount.I called her(Assistant Manager) back and asked her about the exchange rate and whether any concession is possible?She justified the exchange rate and tax,refused to reduce,even a single paise. She told me to send an E-mail,without mentioning the amount,saying that I will transfer 50% (in their own words-partial payment of charges)of my 2months pay and 14.5% tax,into Al Wajiha's account,by next day(05/02/2016),12noon. Since,it was a huge amount of money and I was planning to take a personal loan from a bank,to pay that amount,I decided to check the antecedents and authenticity of  AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY,before I make the payment.I came across an online blog-www.embassy-finder.com,on which many doctors and nurses,had opined and questioned the authenticity of Al Wajiha & also,many posts by people who had lost money,which they had paid to Al Wajiha.
After this,I decided,till I confirm the authenticity of Al Wajiha, I will not pay more money.But,I was contacted by Al Wajiha, by phone and e-mail,multiple times,on 5 & 6/02/2016,to which I didn't respond. Finally, on 06/02/2016,evening I answered a phone call,from Assistant Manager,who asked me why I have not paid Rs.7,55,700/- to Al Wajiha? I told her that my bank loan for Rs.7,50,000/- was not sanctioned and I didn't have so much savings.So,I didn't have any other option,other than waiting for my loan to be sanctioned.Next,she asked me how much money,I can pay Al Wajiha immediately. I told her,I have got around Rs.1.5lacs liquid cash in my hand.She asked me to pay that by next day,10.am(Sunday,07/02/2015) and the rest(Rs.6lacs),after my loan is sanctioned, I can pay by cash on Wednesday, 10/02/2016,in their office in Pune.I agreed to do that. But after this call,in which she seemed to be in a great hurry to get my payment and also,after reading all the negative reviews of Al Wajiha, in a blog(there was not a single positive comment about Al Wajiha),I decided that I will not pay anything to Al Wajiha, till I clear all the doubts that I had,about Al Wajiha. So,I sent Al Wajiha, an e-mail,in which I had raised 4 questions about Al Wajiha and sought answers from them.The questions were-
1)What is the registration number of Al Wajiha,issued by MOIA(Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs),Government of India,for recruiting Indians to work abroad?
2)Registration number/Power of Attorney issued by Ministry of Manpower,Government of Qatar
3)Complete address of Al Wajiha in Doha,Qatar and contact details of their In charge,in Doha,Qatar
4)Details of Doctors(whose testimonials were shown to us) recruited by Al Wajiha recently,to work in Doha,Qatar.
Inspite of sending repeated and many more e-mails to Al Wajiha,asking them the same 4 questions,there was no answers to my questions.However,Al Wajiha sent me an E-mail on Feb 8, 2016 5:12 PM,in which they had mentioned that all my emails hav-mail on Feb 8, 2016 5:12 PM,in which they had mentioned that all my emails have been forwarded to their Legal Department & I shall receive required replies shortly. However,after waiting for many days and repeated reminders by e-mail for answers by their legal department,there were no answers to my questions, by Al Wajiha.But,on Feb 15, 2016 3:07 PM,I got an e-mail from Al Wajiha. That didn't have answers to my questions.But,e-mail had a veiled/thinly disguised threats,by Al Wajiha. In that Al Wajiha had mentioned that their legal department has record of all my communications from the time I posted my CV to Al Wajiha and that their Legal Department has their own process to respond or if required,initiate legal action towards any untoward email or Candidature .So,basically AL WAJIHA was telling me to shut up or their Legal Department, will sue me.
I started digging and collecting more facts about Al Wajiha,on Internet & by talking to other Doctors who had lost money to Al Wajiha.The facts that  that came to my notice and the facts that I  learnt about Al Wajiha, were unbelievable and baffling. They were-
1)AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY  was an ILLEGAL COMPANY,according to 'Section-10' of  "THE EMIGRATION ACT-1983" ,as it was not registered with the PROTECTOR GENERAL of EMIGRANTS,under MINISTRY of OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS,GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. Also,it had violated many 'other Sections' of  "THE EMIGRATION ACT -1983" in their Advertisements,Office,Financial Dealing.
2)AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY's claim of being 'Registered and Approved'  by   "The Ministry of Manpower",  Government of Qatar, was false.Because there is no "Ministry of Manpower" in the Government of  Qatar.So,AL WAJIHA was committing FRAUD.
3)Address of their Headquarters in Doha,Qatar,provided by Al Wajiha on their website,was incomplete and no one responded to my calls,when I called the mobile phone number in Doha,Qatar, provided by Al Wajiha on its website,many times.
All these facts proved that- AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY was an 'ILLEGAL COMPANY', recruiting Indians to work abroad,according to Section-10,of THE EMIGRATION ACT-1983 and it was committing 'FRAUD' by claiming that its REGISTERED AND APPROVED BY,MINISTRY OF MANPOWER,GOVERNMENT OF QATAR,when such a Ministry never exists in the Government of Qatar
I would like to mention to AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY  that,all of my actions,like-
1)Sending my CV to Al Wajiha
2)Attending the interview, in Al Wajiha's office in Pune
&
3)Paying a registration amount of Rs.51,999/- to Al Wajiha
were all based on Al Wajiha'-
1)Illegal Advertisements and Recruiting Activities(Emigration Act-1983,Section-10)
&
2)Fraud, due to Willful Misrepresentation, in their newspaper advertisement.
Also,in addition to this, according to Section 18,17 of THE INDIAN CONTRACT ACT-1872,any bond signed,which was based on FRAUD(WILFUL MISREPRESENTATION) by AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY) is "VOID".So,contract/bond,signed by me,giving up my rights to hold Al Wajiha responsible for any loss,stands "VOID". And,I am not legally bound,anymore,to honor that bond.
  To sumup,I have the following allegations(CRIMINAL CHARGES),against AL WAJIHA INTERFACE COMPANY-
1)Running an ILLEGAL RECTUITING AGENCY & ILLEGAL RECRUITING ACTIVITIES BY AL WAJIHA,due to violation of Section-10 of The Emigration Act-1983.In addition to this,several sections of the same act violated by Al Wajiha, in their advertisement ,in their office and in their financial dealings
2)For making me sign a contract,which was based on FRAUD(WILFUL MISREPRESENTATION)-Section 18 & 17 of The Indian Contract Act-1872.This act of Al Wajiha (Fraud),not only voids the contract and releases me from all obligations of the bond,but also,makes way for a crimal case for cheating under various sections of IPC(Indian Penal Code) against Al Wajiha.

  Also,there is enough evidence, in the actions and behavior of Al Wajiha, to file a CIVIL CASE,in PUNE DISTRICT CONSUMER COURT,for giving illegal, false and misleading advertisements, about their company and misleading the consumer(me).Al Wajiha has violated various Sections of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, which have infringed on my various rights,as a consumer.They are -Right to Information and Right to Choose.Also,under CPA-1986, by giving misleading advertisement,Al Wajiha has used UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES.
So,Sir,I would like to know,whether I can pursue Al Wajiha Company in Consumer Court and get refund of Rs.51,999/-(which is my hard earned money and is equal to my 5 weeks pay). Sir kindly help me,to recover my money,Rs.51,999/-.In addition to me,many other doctors were cheated by this company.Al Wajiha have become very bold and acting/advertising openly,without any fear& looting money from many innocent,hard working,middle class doctors like me.Sir,I beg you to help me to recover my money,Rs.51,999/-.This a huge sum for me and to earn this amount,I have slogged day & night for more than 5weeks,sacrificing a lot(like food,rest,sleep,time with my family,etc etc)

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