FRDI bill to help loan defaulters: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday attacked the proposed FRDI bill saying that through this, banks on the brink of failure can rescue themselves by making their creditors and depositors take the loss on their holdings.

Party leader Raghav Chadha told a media conference that the bailout system in which financial assistance is given to a failing business or economy by the government to save it from collapse will now be converted into bail-in and "banks will get the liberty to usurp public money to compensate for the unpaid loans taken by billionaires, unable to pay them off".

"The government very strategically first brought the policy of Jan Dhan Yojna, then announced demonetisation, later put limits on the withdrawal size, and is now all set to introduce the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) bill," he said.

He described the FRDI bill stands for "Fraud and Robbery to Dupe Indians".

"This will let the bank decide on what to do with the money that belongs to the public. Because it is being brought like a law, no remedies will be available. People won't be able to approach the courts against such moves," he added.

He said that Section 52 of the bill provides that money from people's accounts can either be deducted wholly or there can be a reduction in it, or the depositor would not be allowed to wthdraw it for 20 years.

"This law is being introduced to compensate for the loans taken by people like Vijay Malya," he said.

Another party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj said: "Money from the Common man's bank account will be debited for the pleasure, leisure and bank loan bailouts of the cronies."

"While, the common man will just get a simple mobile notification of his loss."

The FRDI Bill, 2017 introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 10, 2017, is at present under the consideration of the joint committee of the Parliament. The committee is consulting all the stakeholders on the provisions of the FRDI Bill.

According to a statement released by the government, "the provisions contained in the FRDI Bill, do not modify present protections to the depositors adversely at all. They provide rather additional protections to the depositors in a more transparent manner."

--IANS

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