Bill to ban unregulated deposit schemes introduced in Lok Sabha

A bill that provides for a comprehensive mechanism to ban unregulated deposit schemes and protect the interest of depositors was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018, introduced by Minister of State for Finance P. Radhakrishnan on behalf of his colleague Shiv Pratap Shukla, aims to prevent unregulated deposit schemes or arrangements at their inception and makes soliciting deposits related to an unregulated deposit scheme a punishable offence.

It provides for deterrent punishment for prompting or operating an unregulated deposit taking scheme.

The bill provides for a competent authority by the state government to ensure repayment of deposits in the event of default by a deposit-taking company.

Two other bills - The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2018 and The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 - were also introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The AERA bill seeks to amend the definition of "major airport" as any airport which has or is designated to have over three and a half million passengers instead of existing one and a half million.

The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill provides for establishing an independent body - Arbitration Council of India - to grade arbitral institutions and accreditation of arbitrators.

--IANS

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