Parliament passes Bill to curb ponzi schemes

New Delhi : Parliament on Monday unanimously passed 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 passed with voice vote the bill which would save gullible investors from ponzi schemes. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on July 24, 2019.

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2019 replaced the Ordinance on the same. Replying to a debate on the Bill, 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 is part of the government's effort to bring back money looted by some high and mighty people, he said during a debate on the maiden Bill piloted by him.

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 cases have been identified so far and of this 326 are in West Bengal .

The bill seeks to help tackle the menace of illicit deposit taking activities in the country, which at present are exploiting regulatory gaps and lack of strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people of their hard earned money, according to the government.