Suspense Crime Sach Ka Dam
The central government has proposed to bring a new law to stop irregular lending. The proposal provides for a 10-year jail sentence for those who do not follow or violate the law. According to PTI news, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) working group on digital loans submitted its report in November 2021. It said that its purpose is to curb irregular lending activities and protect the interests of consumers.
This proposal has been made in the draft bill
According to the news, the proposed bill seeks to ban all persons or entities that are not authorized by the Reserve Bank or other regulators and are not registered under any other law from carrying on the business of lending money to the public. The draft bill defines unregulated lending activities as loans that do not fall under any law governing regulated lending, whether done digitally or through other means.
There will be such a punishment
The draft bill states that there will be an act to ban irregular lending activities other than lending to relatives and to provide a comprehensive system to protect the interests of borrowers. It also proposes that any lender who provides loans digitally or otherwise in violation of this law will be punished with imprisonment of at least two years, which may extend to seven years, along with a fine ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Also, lenders, who harass borrowers or use illegal means to recover loans, will face imprisonment of three to ten years and a fine.
Comments have been sought by February 13, 2025
Stakeholders have been invited to provide comments on the new draft bill titled BULA (Ban on Unregulated Lending Activities), including digital loans, by February 13, 2025. There have been several instances where many naïve borrowers have been duped of their money by fraudulent loan apps. In some cases, the method of extortion led to suicides. Earlier, the government had directed social media and online platforms to ensure that they do not show ads for fraudulent loan apps. Google has removed over 2,200 fraudulent loan apps from its Play Store between September 2022 and August 2023.
