Blackmail and Online Harassment After a Google Review — Legal Remedies in India

My client, a resident of Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, placed an order with a local printing and stationery business in early March 2025. The shop delivered substandard material, charged well above the quoted price, and flatly refused to issue a refund. Frustrated after two rounds of failed communication, my client posted an honest, factual Google review detailing the experience. Within days, the shop owner's son began sending abusive voicemails and threatening messages, warning that he would "ruin" my client if the review wasn't taken down. Ugly comments appeared on my client's social media profiles. The shop owner appeared to have some local political connections, which only added to the intimidation.

My client had initially approached a general practice advocate in the area who filed a basic complaint with the local police station. The police were largely unresponsive. The harassment continued for nearly three weeks. A colleague then referred my client to this office. And here's the thing — this wasn't just a consumer dispute anymore. It had crossed squarely into criminal territory: extortion, criminal intimidation, and online harassment under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. A structured approach was taken, combining a formal complaint to the Cyber Crime cell, a Section 173(4) BNSS application to the Superintendent of Police, and simultaneous consumer forum proceedings for the refund. Within a few weeks, the harassment stopped, the matter before the police moved forward, and my client received the refund through the consumer forum process.

It turned out that at least twelve to fifteen other customers of the same shop had experienced similar behaviour, making the pattern of conduct even more relevant to the case. That collective evidence significantly strengthened the complaint.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/blackmail-online-harassment-google-review-legal-remedies-ind/