New Delhi: Parliament unanimously passed Monday the ‘Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019’, which seeks to put in place a mechanism by which poor depositors will get back their hard earned money. The Rajya Sabha passed with voice vote the bill which would save gullible investors from ponzi schemes. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill July 24, 2019.
Replying to a debate on the Bill, the Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said the Bill would protect the hard earned money of the poor people. He said, “I urge all members to pass the bill.”
The minister said the government had constituted an inter-ministerial group to address gaps in existing legislation. The recommendations include a new central law to tackle unregulated deposit schemes.
The Bill states that the first claim on the recovered money will be of depositors and the proposed legislation also has some exclusion including money collected by real estate firms and from friends and relatives.
The bill will give power to both central and state governments to frame rules, he said, adding 978 ponzi cases have been identified so far and of this 326 are in West Bengal
The Bill seeks to provide a comprehensive mechanism to ban the unregulated deposit schemes, other than deposits taken in the ordinary course of business, and to protect the interest of depositors.
The statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill seeks to put in place a mechanism by which depositors can be repaid without delay by attaching assets of the defaulting establishments.
PTI