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Journalism of Courage
In focus
It was just another Sunday. Dileep Singh (20), a Class 12 dropout from Noida, decided it was time for a change. He had been using his old phone for some time, and was finally switching to a new one. He carefully transferred his SIM card into the new device, ready to set it up. But things didn’t go as smoothly as expected.
Once the device was on, his mobile data wasn’t working. He quickly recharged his phone, reinstalled all his applications, and started logging into each of them. Then came the moment that changed everything.
He opened a digital finance app. As the interface loaded and his account balance appeared, Dileep blinked in disbelief. The number on his screen didn’t seem real. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It was an amount with 37 digits. The balance read: Rs 10,01,35,60,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,23,56,00,00,00,00,299. (1 billion, 13 lakh and 55 thousand crore)”. The astronomical sum meant he was richer than Forbes billionaires.
“For a few seconds, I thought, I was dreaming. Then, I informed my grandmother about it,” he said.
Dileep lost his mother two months ago and his father 10 years ago. After losing his parents, he had been staying with her maternal grandmother, Maya Devi (65). “I asked him to transfer some money from his account to someone and check. I was so happy. I thought we will not be poor anymore,” Maya Devi told The Indian Express.
When he attempted to transfer the money, he could not. “There was a message instead. Message mein tha ki koi technical issue hai bank se (The message said that there was a technical issue with the bank). After I tried transferring again, my account was frozen,” he said.
Deepak said he was told by the bank that his account was frozen for a probe.
According to the officers of Dankaur Police Station, a technical glitch in the digital finance app appears to have caused the app to erroneously display such an inflated account balance. “This was likely due to a bug and only appeared within the app. Upon logging into his account through another application, Deepak’s current balance showed to be zero. Further, an official bank statement was obtained via email, which also confirmed no account balance like before,” said the officer.
When contacted, Station House Officer Munendra Singh confirmed that it was a bug that caused the confusion. “We verified the claims. There is no amount in his account. We have not received any complaint from the consumer and therefore are not taking any legal action,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deepak said that he had visited the bank and officials told him that his account will be recovered in two to three working days.
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