One of my clients recently had a case which I am explaining below and if you are stuck in such similar situation, here is what to do.
Note: Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot disclose complete case details or identify the actual parties involved. However, I am sharing the essential facts and legal approach so that if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can understand the available solutions and legal remedies.
TL;DR: A host forced payment of cash at drop-off by threatening to take you to a police station, and that threat itself is the bigger legal problem, not the scratch. If he files an FIR later, you'll normally receive a notice of appearance first, not an arrest, and a private person's damage complaint against you is extremely unlikely to survive. Don't pay another rupee, and don't walk into any police station to "sign something" without an advocate beside you.
The drop-off was at a fuel station in Kochi on 15 March 2025. Ananya Bose, who had flown in from Kolkata the previous evening, handed back the keys of a self-drive hatchback booked through Revv for twenty-four hours. The host, Anoop Menon, walked around the car twice, then pointed at a scratch near the rear door and a scuff on the bumper.
Two options, he said. Pay ₹19,200 in cash right now, or drive to the local station and sign a complaint so he could claim insurance himself. She wasn't allowed to leave until she picked one. A friend recorded the exchange on a phone. They paid.
Revv's support team later agreed the host should have gone through the platform's insurance route rather than collecting cash. The host refused. His car was new, he said, and repairs had to happen at a Hyundai showroom, while the platform insisted on garages listed by its insurer, HDFC Ergo. Then the calls started coming directly to Bose, with a fresh line: come to the station and sign, or an FIR gets filed. She doesn't speak Malayalam and the station sits in his neighbourhood. By early April 2025 she approached the Chamber of Advocate Sudhir Rao. Payment records, the call recording and the support emails were arranged into a single timeline, and a notice went out to both the platform and the host. The money came back, and the complaint never moved past a written intimation. Advocate Sudhir Rao's familiarity with how these disputes are actually handled at the police station level is what kept a parking-lot argument from turning into a criminal case against her.
Key Facts of the Case
- A self-drive car was booked through a platform for 24 hours, from 14 to 15 March 2025, in Kochi.
- At drop-off, the host alleged scratch damage to the doors and bumper.
- He demanded ₹19,200 in cash immediately, or that the customer accompany him to a police station and sign for a complaint.
- The customer paid under pressure, and the payment was captured on video.
- The platform's support team accepted that the host should have claimed through the platform's insurer, not the customer's pocket.
- The host wanted repairs only at a manufacturer showroom; the platform's insurer works through its own listed garage network.
- The host then began calling the customer directly, threatening an FIR if she did not come and sign.
- No written notice from any police officer was ever served on the customer.
The Direct Legal Answer
Can a host forced payment demand turn into an FIR against me?
Yes, he can walk into a station and give a written complaint. Whether it becomes an FIR is up to the police, not him. A civil dispute over a scratch on a rental car is not a cognizable offence, and police routinely close such complaints or treat them as a non-cognizable entry. Registering an FIR is mandatory only where the information discloses a cognizable offence. A damage dispute doesn't.
Do I have to go to the station if there's no notice from the police?
No. A private individual's phone call is not a summons. Until an officer in charge of a police station issues you a written notice of appearance under Section 35(3) BNSS, or a court issues process, there is nothing to attend. Going voluntarily to "sign something" is how people end up as the named accused in their own complaint.
Is the demand for showroom-only repairs valid?
That argument sits between the host and the platform, not between them and you. You paid the platform, and your trip protection fee was for exactly this.
Advice in Such Cases
Consult with Lawyer: The very basic and important step to start is talk to Lawyer / advocate. You should not hesitate in paying his consultation fee i.e. might be in range of Rs. 10,000 to 50,000 depends case to case. He is helping you in this situation to come out. He is expert in the domain and can help you explain the procedure which you might have never explored. A good lawyer can get the issues resolved much faster than you think.
Put everything in writing within 48 hours. Send the platform one email that lists the cash demanded, the recording, and the support agent's own admission, and ask for a refund in a stated number of days.
Never visit a police station for a private party's request. If you must go, go with an advocate and an interpreter, and sign nothing without reading it fully and having it explained.
Matters like this need an advocate who handles them regularly. The procedural and evidentiary nuances, from how a station treats a counter-complaint to how payment evidence is proved, are often missed by a general practitioner who rarely sees these files.
Applicable Sections of Law
Forcing a person to part with money by threatening him is extortion under Section 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The threat of an FIR to extract money or a signature can also attract Section 351 BNS, criminal intimidation. If a platform collects a protection fee and refuses to honour it, that is a deficiency in service, and a complaint lies before the District Commission under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. On procedure, Section 173 BNSS governs registration of information, and Section 175(3) BNSS allows a Magistrate to direct an investigation.
Punishment and Penalties
Extortion under Section 308 BNS carries imprisonment which may extend to three years, or fine, or both, with heavier punishment where the victim is put in fear of death or grievous hurt. It is cognizable and non-bailable, and compoundable with the permission of the court. Criminal intimidation under Section 351 BNS is punishable with imprisonment up to two years, or fine, or both, and is generally non-cognizable and bailable. Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property under Section 318(4) BNS carries up to seven years and fine, and is cognizable and non-bailable.
Jurisdiction — Where to File the Case
An extortion complaint goes to the police station having territorial jurisdiction over the place where the money was actually taken, which in this case is Kochi. If the police refuse to act, the Magistrate at Kochi can be moved. A consumer complaint against the platform can be filed where the complainant resides, where the branch office of the platform is situated, or where the cause of action arose, so a Kolkata resident may file in Kolkata. Jurisdiction decides which court can even hear you, and a wrong forum means dismissal on that ground alone, so get it right at the start.
What if Police Refuse to File FIR?
Refusal is common when a complaint looks like a money dispute. You have options.
- Send the substance of your complaint in writing to the Superintendent of Police under Section 173(4) BNSS, if the officer in charge refuses to record it.
- File a private complaint before the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 223 BNSS, with a sworn statement of your account.
- Move the Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS for a direction to the police to register and investigate the offence.
- Keep the two claims separate. The criminal complaint is about the threat and the money; the consumer complaint is about the platform's protection fee. Neither one fixes the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a host legally demand cash before letting me leave?
He can ask for money. He cannot make your leaving the vehicle conditional on paying it. Once he blocks you, keeps your belongings or your co-passenger waiting, and gives you a two-option ultimatum with no exit, that stops being a damage claim. Section 308 BNS covers the money being taken out of you by putting you in fear, and a bystander being physically held back can attract the wrongful restraint provision in the BNS. Whether it crosses that line depends on what was said and done, and on what the recording shows. We only have one side of this, so treat the recording as the deciding document.
Will I be arrested if he files an FIR about the scratch?
Not in a case like this. Damage to a rented car is a property dispute, and the worst framing is a minor property offence. In practice, where a police station does take down a complaint and an accused is named, the first step is a written notice of appearance. For a matter of this kind, custodial arrest serves no purpose, and if an officer were to insist, bail is available before the Magistrate. Where a person has reason to believe a case is coming, anticipatory bail under Section 482 BNSS is the route, though on these facts it is usually unnecessary.
I paid under pressure. Can I get the money back?
Often, yes. Two things carry the demand: the platform's own support email accepting that the host should have claimed through its insurer, and your recording of the exchange. A written demand to the host and the platform, with a deadline, is the first step. If it is ignored, the platform route is a consumer complaint for deficiency in service, and the money can also be sought as restitution in the criminal proceedings against the host. Where you signed a damage acceptance form marked as a voluntary settlement, or paid through a channel that leaves no trail, recovery gets harder — that is the honest position, not a reason to stay quiet.
Should I sign anything at a police station if I am called?
Not without an advocate present. Read every line before the pen touches it, and where the document is in a language you do not read, have it translated on the spot and recorded in the station's own note. A statement signed under a station's pressure has a long life.
What if he keeps calling and threatening an FIR?
A private person cannot register an FIR; only the police can. A repeated demand for money or a signature, backed by the threat of arrest, is a fresh act of criminal intimidation under Section 351 BNS each time it happens. Save the recordings, note the date and time of every call, and stop responding in writing except through your advocate.
How long do I have to act?
A consumer complaint has to be filed within two years of the cause of action. For a criminal complaint on the threat or the money, the limitation runs with the punishment for the offence — roughly three years where the offence carries up to three years. Both windows are shorter than people assume. Confirm the running date for your own file with counsel.
What to Send Us
Send four things: the booking confirmation with the vehicle details, proof of the payment you were made to hand over, any recording or message where the host refuses to go through the platform's insurance route, and a two-line note saying what happened and what you want done. If a police officer has already called you or asked you to come in for a signature, put that in the first line. Do not delete anything from your phone, and do not pay a second instalment while the first demand is under dispute.
You can write to me@sudhirrao.com, use the form at /contact-us, or fix a time at /book. The chamber is at Chamber No. 86, Lawyers' Chamber, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi 110001, phone +91 97295 06771. Bring the documents; if there is nothing to argue, we will tell you that on the first call rather than after a fee.
Disclaimer: This article is general information about Indian law and the procedure that usually applies in disputes of this kind. It is not legal advice on your own situation, and no two files run the same way.
Advocate Sudhir Rao, Supreme Court of India
Facing a similar matter? Speak to a Delhi criminal defence lawyer — Advocate Sudhir Rao appears in bail, trial and appellate matters before the Delhi District Courts, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.