Since Tuesday, Paytm users have been sharing screenshots on social media comparing the amount they donated to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, and the amount mentioned on the certificate they received from the government acknowledging their donation. Many of these certificates are showing a significant gap in the amount paid by the user, and the amount acknowledged by the government.
Twitter user Haribabu posted that he had donated Rs 2000, and received a certificate for Rs 3. Rameshwar Singh posted that he had donated Rs 500, and received a certificate for Rs 3. The comment along with his post read, “Donated 500 towards Kerala relief fund using Paytm but received receipt from Kerala government only 3rs.where is the leak on this.” Vasudha Singh paid Rs 100, received a certificate for Rs 3, and in her comment, humorously enquired whether the remaining Rs 97 had been donated by Paytm to itself.
@Paytm Donated 2000 RS towards "Kerala fund" through @PayTm and today got confirmation from CMDRF saying I donated only 3 RS. Whats wrong here.. pic.twitter.com/qVLkWmkeCg
— haribabu.amudalapall (@rocks_hari) October 23, 2018
#Paytm @Paytm donated 500 towards Kerala relief fund using paytm but received receipt from Kerala government only 3rs.where is the leak on this.
— Rameshwar singh (@rameshwar1084) October 22, 2018
Contribution Order #5831267942 pic.twitter.com/CN1tGy1dxF
@Paytm I donated Rs100 to Kerela's Chief Minister Distress Relief Fund through Paytm on 18th August 2018. I received an SMS from Kerela CMDRF showing receipt of the contribution made by me of Rs 3. Where is the rest of my Rs 97? Did you donate it to yourself? @vijayshekhar pic.twitter.com/Sjycn1E7Il
— Vasudha Singh (@theVasudhaSingh) October 23, 2018
However, this is not a case of Paytm donating to itself, nor has there been any leak here. As Twitter and Paytm user Rameshwar tweeted a few hours later, the error was due to a technical issue, and was because the wrong receipt link reached his inbox.
@Paytmcare thank you for call and support .I have downloaded the correct receipt from given URL. It seems due to system issue wrong receipt-link reached to my inbox.#Paytm @Paytm .clarification and guidance was need of hour. thank you Twitter folks as well. pic.twitter.com/O5fvRwuC7c
— Rameshwar singh (@rameshwar1084) October 23, 2018
Aneez, an employee working at the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, told TNM, “This is not a leak or anything by Paytm. It seems to be a technical issue.
The Chief Ministers Disaster Relief Fund has sent a mass message that reads, “It has come to our notice that a technical glitch occurred while sending large volume of messages, and you might have received an incorrect receipt against your contribution to CMDRF. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We have rectified the issue.” The message ends with a link to where users can download the correct certificate.
Responding to the issue, Paytm too, attributed it to a technical snag.
“We have observed that some of our users may have received SMSs from Kerala CM Disaster Relief Fund (Kerala CMDRF) to download their donation receipts for contributions made on Paytm during the Kerala Floods. Due to a technical snag, the link in the SMS, in certain cases, may be routing customers to an incorrect donation receipt/amount. Paytm has transferred all donations collected on our platform to the Kerala CM Disaster Relief Fund & the Government authorities are issuing the relevant receipts on their website,” it said.
For correct receipts, it asked donors to visit this link and download their donation receipts.