Rs 8L tax shock for driver over fake account

Bengaluru: A 26-year-old driver who works for a regional news channel in the city was shocked when Mysuru GST officials issued him a summons demanding over Rs 8 lakh in taxes for financial transactions he claimed he never carried out.The victim, Bharath BH, a resident of Krishnappa Garden, south Bengaluru, approached GST officials to seek clarification after receiving the notice. He was told that a bank account had been opened in his name, with financial transactions totalling nearly Rs 30 lakh.
A current account was opened in Bharath's name at a bank on April 5, 2024, using his Aadhaar and PAN cards. Investigation revealed the account recorded transactions amounting to over Rs 29.5 lakh, of which around Rs 8.2 lakh was flagged as taxable income, leading to the tax demand.The notice was delivered on Dec 8, 2025, to Bharath's permanent address in a village at Channarayapatna in Hassan district. It said substantial financial transactions via UPI (a digital payment application) had taken place in the account, allegedly linked to a firm registered under his name.Bharath, however, said he had no knowledge of the account, had never conducted any such business and did not authorise anyone to open or operate a bank account on his behalf. He alleged that unknown persons, in collusion with bank officials, misused his identity documents to open the account and carry out financial transactions, thereby cheating him and exposing him to legal and tax liabilities. Bharath claimed GST officials and the bank did not inform him who had opened the account and registered the firm.Based on his complaint, police registered a case under sections of BNS, including 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation).