Draft bill proposes heavy penalty, jail term to curb illegal deposit schemes

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday put out a revised draft of a bill to check unauthorised chit funds and Ponzi schemes, proposing strict measures such as up to 10 years imprisonment and heavy penalty on operators of such schemes.

The revised draft of ‘Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Protection of Depositors’ Interests Bill, 2016 seeks to provide for a comprehensive code to ban unregulated deposit schemes and protect the interests of depositors. The bill stipulates that any deposit taker who promotes and accept deposits in an unregulated deposit scheme may be punishable with imprisonment for minimum term of two years which may be extended to 10 years and with a fine which may extend to twice the amount of aggregate funds collected from subscribers, members or participants in such schemes or arrangements.

The bill also provides for the central government to authorise creation of an online database of information on deposit taking activity in India.

Public comments on it have been sought till December 17. If it becomes a law, it would override a clutch of existing laws, including those framed by the states.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley had in his budget presentation for 2016-17 said the government will bring a comprehensive central legislation to deal with unauthorised deposittaking schemes. The proposed bill is based on recommendations of an interministerial group.

The government had constituted the group to identify gaps in the existing regulatory framework for deposit-taking activities and to suggest administrative or legislative measures, including formulation of a new law to cover all relevant aspects of deposit-taking.