International credit cards (not issued in India) have, for some time, been a nightmare for travel portals and travel agents as well.
MUMBAI: A traveller’s nightmare in India may begin with his international credit card, if it is not issued in the country. For, several online travel sites have refused to enter-tain credit cards issued abroad.
International credit cards (not issued in India) have, for some time, been a nightmare for travel portals and travel agents as well. They bear the onus each time a fraudulent booking takes place.
“As per the global rules governing mastercards and visa cards, we have to refund the amount to the actual owner of the credit card, who comes to know of the fraud subsequently when he or she receives the bill,” said Nikhil Rungta, head of marketing, yatra.com.
Yatra.com has been on the receiving end of several tech-savvy fraudsters.
In a move to combat this menace, yatra.com has pinned a note on its home page that’s telling: Bookings with international credit cards (credit cards not issued in India) have temporarily been suspended. This service will resume shortly and we will have a notice posted on our website. We regret any inconvenience caused to our passengers.
“Frauds through international cards have risen, leading us to stop online acceptance. We accept the cards offline provided the person faxes us a copy of the identity proof and that of the credit card,” said Rungta.
Typically, what is happening is fraudsters get hold of the credit card numbers through restaurants, call centres and petrol pumps to book flight tickets. Yatra.com has not been accepting international credit cards (not issued in India) from the past 4-5 months.
Cleartrip.com doesn’t accept any kind of international credit cards. But it plans to accept them after a more secure and enhanced system called MasterCard Securecode and verified by VISA, which have additional security processes, have been installed.
“Cleartrip.com has never accepted international credit cards. We may start accepting them in the next 4-6 weeks. These systems will help combat intentional frauds,” Stuart Crighton, COO, cleartrip.com, said.
Jet Airways, too, is enhancing its security systems with the mentioned products. The airline accepts international credit cards. Its main rival Kingfisher also accepts international credit cards. But sources reveal that the airline will implement new software to make it difficult for probable fraudsters.
“Frauds happen everywhere. We are putting in place enhanced security systems”, said Gaurang Shetty, V-P, marketing, Jet Airways.
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