23 states, UTs have enacted laws to protect depositors: SFIO

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on Monday told the Supreme Court that 23 states and Union territories have enacted special laws, the Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, to protect depositors and were empowered to take action against any scheme promising "abnormal return".

In its affidavit filed in a PIL which has sought a proper mechanism to regulate functioning of chit funds in India, SFIO said that RBI would soon launch an Internet portal which would contain a module for the public to post complaints and information on suspected unauthorised activities.

It said that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) had in July 2012 written a letter to all chief secretaries requesting them to set up a panel, including representatives from RBI, SEBI, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Economic Offences Wing of the state police, to enable enhanced sharing of information among agencies concerned regarding unregulated activities and entities raising money from the public with a view to defrauding people.

"It is stated that state-level coordination committees (SLCCs) have been constituted by RBI in all the states/UTs to facilitate information sharing among the regulators and enforcement agencies about unauthorised acceptance of deposits by miscreant entities and to take quick action against suspected illicit schemes etc," an affidavit, filed before a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur, said.

It said, "RBI had also been preparing a web enabled portal to be used by all SLCCs, containing information on registered entities of the SLCCs participants, activities of various SLCCs etc. In the intranet part of the portal, which has been operational since May 2016, the participants of SLCCs can share information amongst each other on a real-time basis." "The Internet part of the portal, which contains a module for public to post complaints and information on suspected unauthorized activities, will be launched by RBI soon," it said.