Glare on fraud companies
- Non-banking finance firms dupe hundreds in Assam
PANKAJ SARMA
Guwahati, April 22: Three years ago, Prafulla Gogoi — a school teacher at Naharkatia in Dibrugarh district — was looking for an investment plan when he learnt about a non-banking finance company (NBFC), promising great returns for investment.
He decided to invest Rs 5, 850 at the Delhi-based company’s Duliajan branch in a lucrative scheme, which promised to return Rs 19 lakh after a year.
Today, Gogoi is crestfallen since he has not received any returns on his investment. The company has closed down its Duliajan office three months ago and all its employees have done the vanishing act. “I have slapped a legal notice on the company and now is waiting for a reply from its end, ” Gogoi told The Telegraph.
Gogoi is not alone. There are hundreds of people across Assam, who have been cheated by fraud NBFCs, most of which are fly-by-night operators.
The Bureau of Investigation, Economic Offences (BIEO) of Assam police has registered 50 such cases during the past year and arrested 10 people.
An official source in the home department said complaints have been mounting against dubious NBFCs, which are operating in the state without any registrations from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for collecting public deposits. He said to collect public money, they require approval from the RBI and if the money is invested in the share market, the company needs to be registered with Sebi.
The NBFCs, which are not recognised by the RBI or the Sebi cannot do any monetary transactions, take deposit from people or issue cheques, he said. “However, it has been observed that some individuals, firms, marketing companies and even real estate firms without having approval of any of these authorities are collecting money from the public by promising good returns, either through adver-tisements or by selling products. Many such entities have vanished without repaying the money collected by them, ” the source said.
He said a Guwahati-based real estate firm called Embee Private Limited had collected public deposit without having the mandatory approval. “A real estate firm needs RBI and Assam Housing Board’s approval to collect public deposit, ” the source said. “Even though a lot of people have been victimised by these fake companies, still many have not learnt lessons. Most people have lost a lot of money because of their carelessness and gullibility, ” the source said. “When these companies make attractive offers, most of the people do not care to verify the authenticity and terms and conditions and became easy prey to them, ” he added.
The BIEO, which is investigating these cases, have registered 50 cases so far. The investigating agency has registered these cases suo motu as well as on basis of public complaints.
“Recently, the BIEO had registered as case against an NBFC called Uni Pay2U, which had collected money from the public promising to double the amount in 10 months but failed to keep its promise. There are many other NBFCs which collect deposits from people promising 17 to 20 per cent interest, ” the source said.
Ajay Hazarika, the co-ordinator of Consumer Legal Protection Forum, said unauthorised NBFCs have mushroomed in the state in recent years. “These organisations, majority of whom had their head offices outside the state, take deposits from people promising abnormally high rates of interest. After collecting the money, they close their operations and leave the state, ” Hazarika said.
There were also allegations that some of these NBFCs have registered in one name and are collecting money from the market under another name.
(THE TELEGRAPH, APRIL 23)
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