Delhi HC Orders Vercel and GitHub to Remove Fake IndiaMART Websites

The Delhi High Court has issued a directive ordering US-based website-hosting and cloud infrastructure platforms Vercel, GitHub, and Netlify to immediately remove URLs that infringe upon the "IndiaMART" trademark. The ruling follows a lawsuit detailing how fraudsters utilized these platforms to host near-identical clones of the IndiaMART B2B marketplace to conduct real-time phishing and account takeover attacks.

What Changed

The court's order imposes strict, short-term compliance windows on the infrastructure providers to halt the dissemination of fraudulent content:

• Vercel and Netlify: Ordered to suspend or disable seven and eight specific URLs, respectively, within a 36-hour window.
• GitHub: Directed to block a specific repository used to store the source code for the fraudulent websites.
• WhatsApp: Ordered to block five specific phone numbers used in the phishing campaigns and disclose subscriber information.
• Financial and Telecom Entities: Punjab National Bank and Bharti Airtel must disclose KYC details for the bank accounts and mobile numbers involved in the fraud.

Who Is Affected

The ruling directly impacts cloud infrastructure and hosting providers, signaling a narrowing of "safe harbor" protections when platforms are used to facilitate active fraud. While intermediaries often claim exemption from liability for third-party content, the court treated these providers as essential components of the fraudulent ecosystem. Additionally, the order mandates that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) issue notifications to all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to implement a centralized blocking mechanism for the rogue sites.

Operational Impact

The modus operandi involved creating 15 "near-identical" clones of the IndiaMART interface, mimicking its layout, trade dress, and action buttons like "call now." Fraudsters used WhatsApp to send links to these sites, prompting sellers to enter phone numbers. This allowed perpetrators to trigger legitimate OTPs on the real IndiaMART site and capture them on the fake site in real-time, gaining unauthorized access to seller accounts and financial data.

Companies providing cloud-based development and hosting services should monitor judicial trends regarding the accountability of infrastructure providers in trademark infringement and phishing litigation.

Source: Delhi HC orders Vercel, GitHub to remove fake IndiaMART websites, blocks WhatsApp accounts
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