Chief Secy calls for roll out of BUDS Act

Srinagar, Jul 21: Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta Thursday called for roll out of Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act in Jammu and Kashmir within a month, which provides for a comprehensive mechanism to prevent malpractices relating to deposit-taking activities by unscrupulous elements.
He passed on these directions while chairing the 32nd Union Territory Level Coordination Committee (UTLCC) meeting on the working of Non-Banking Financial Companies and Unincorporated Bodies at Civil Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary Home, Additional Chief Secretary Finance, Special DG CID, Special DG Crime, Law Secretary, General Manager RBI, Director Information and Public Relations and other officers. Regional Director RBI, Jammu and other officers attended the meeting through video conferencing.
While chairing the meeting, CS directed for framing of rules for implementation of BUDS Act in J&K and framing an ecosystem for prevention of online duping so that peoples interests are saved. He also passed on directives to the officers to put in place robust corrective measures to stop the financial frauds happening in the digital world. He directed the officers to cover the existing gaps, if any, that are being exploited by various parties to siphon large amounts of money from common people.
Emphasising that ultimate aim is to save the money of people, he stressed on multi-pronged strategy to brace for such situations where people become victims of online scams and taking corrective measures.
Dr Mehta said that a complete system should be in place by which we will able to collect the data where common people are duped of money and strict action needs to be taken. He also called for provision of a dedicated helpline where people will be informed about the fraudulent companies. He said that information should be percolated to the last man standing to enlighten the citizens so that they don’t fall prey to the scammers.
Chief Secretary said that people come across schemes on the internet promising money-making opportunities designed to dupe people and strict measures have to be taken to stop the financial fraud happening in the digital world.
Dr Mehta further asked for designating a nodal officer and establishing an online database with information on various deposit-takers which will be used to ascertain which deposit-takers are regulated, and which are not.
CS also sought action taken report on the progress of the decisions taken in the 31st UTLCC. He also inquired about the cyber frauds registered at the Cyber Police Station and the number of prosecutions made so far.