To address the menace of illegal deposit taking/money pooling, the Reserve Bank of India along with other financial sector regulators on Thursday launched a website, which will enable members of the public to obtain information regarding entities that are allowed to accept deposits, lodge complaints and also share information regarding illegal acceptance of deposits by unscrupulous entities
The RBI along with other regulators — Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, National Housing Bank, and Registrar of Companies — and entities such as State governments and the Economic Offences Wing have launched www.sachet.rbi.org.in , a website where such cases may be reported to the regulator concerned. The website provides for tracking the status of one’s complaint.
The website seeks to provide information on entities that are legally mandated to take deposits/ provide investment management services, entities barred from doing so, besides receiving on-the-ground information on illegal entities enticing gullible people with schemes which promise the moon only to disappear at a later date.
Raghuram Rajan, Governor, RBI, said: “Initiating quick follow-up and taking cases to the logical conclusion by punishing the guilty is paramount to deter entities in future from carrying out unlawful activity. “I hope ‘Sachet’ will help regulators in doing this as much as it would help members of the public in depositing their hard earned money with genuine entities by giving them timely information about these entities.”
The Governor acknowledged the role of UK Sinha, Chairman, SEBI, and State Chief Secretaries in revitalising State Level Coordination Committees (SLCCs) set up to tackle the menace of illegal pools.
The website also incorporates regulations prescribed by all financial regulators that different entities have to follow.
Speaking at the launch, S Raman Whole-Time Member SEBI, said that the securities regulator had taken on some of the largest collective investment schemes during the last four years, such as Saradha and PACL. SEBI, he said, had passed orders against them barring them from raising money in any form from the securities market