BANGALORE: In a development that is sure to make people wary of training centres that offer software technology training programmes at low rates, Bangalore police have busted a huge racket of fake SAP (Systematic Analysis Programme) institutes in the city. According to officials, these centres have duped several students of crores of rupees.
These centres, which were being run by software engineers trained in the programme, were teaching students using pirated SAP software.
Based on information furnished by the SAP company, the city crime branch raided many such centres at High Grounds, Malleswaram, Vijayanagar, Koramangala and Indiranagar, and seized Rs5-10 crore worth of hard disks containing pirated SAP software. Police have arrested five Bangalore-based software engineers - Santosh Kumar, Shivakumar, Titas, Madhukar and Naveen - in this connection. They have been booked for cheating and copyright violation.
According to an SAP spokesperson, raids were conducted on 12 unauthorised training institutes in Bangalore, which were running unlicensed versions of the SAP software on their computers and servers. "The material seized includes servers, fake certificates and printed course materials. SAP's anti-piracy campaign protects the interests of professionals seeking to be trained on SAP technology, its training partners and the Indian IT industry alike. All the raids were made in joint collaboration with EIPR, a leading investigative agency specialising in anti-counterfeiting solutions, and the local authorities. This was part of an ongoing drive to eradicate unauthorised usage of SAP software in training and certification for prospective professionals,'' the spokesperson said.
Over 100 fake training centres
DCP (Crime) N D Mulla said there are over 100 such institutions across Bangalore. "The fee collected varies from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 and each centre has at least 35-50 students. To operate such a business, all that the accused needs is a laptop and a pirated version of the software, which is available anywhere in the market. The actual software costs around Rs 3 lakh," he said. In Bangalore, only Siemens Information Systems on MG Road and Genovate Solutions India Pvt Ltd at Kormangala are authorised to impart SAP training.
Police officers said there are many more such centres that have not been traced yet. "Students wanting to learn SAP should be cautious while applying for the course. They should cross-check the identity of the person conducting the training program," Mulla added.
Prospective learners should always check the accreditation of the education centre before paying the admission fee, the SAP spokesperson said.
m_soumya@dnaindia.net
