HASAN HADI /Dehradun
To rein in chit funds and protect investors, the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) has asked the district administrations to submit investigation reports on chit fund companies operating across the State. The Dehradun STF senior superintendent of police, Ajai Singh informed that a total of 259 chit fund companies are currently functioning in Uttarakhand and their authenticity and legal status are being verified.
He said that the chit fund companies are required to submit reports to the respective district magistrates every three months. The reports help authorities monitor their activities and ensure that they are operating according to the law.
Singh asked people to be careful before investing their money in any company, society, trading platform or cryptocurrency scheme. The warning comes after several cases of companies winding up operations after collecting large amounts of money from investors through fixed deposits (FDs), recurring deposits (RDs) and other investment schemes have surfaced.
Singh said that many fraudsters attract people by promising very high returns and quick profits. They often open branch offices, collect deposits from the public and later shut down their operations. Similar frauds have also been reported in trading and cryptocurrency investment schemes.
He advised people to check whether a company is legally registered and authorised to accept public deposits before investing. “Investors should verify if a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and has permission to collect deposits. The list of authorised NBFCs is available on the RBI website,” he said.
Police also warned people against investing in money circulation schemes, pyramid schemes, Ponzi schemes and unauthorised multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes. “Such schemes are often illegal and can lead to heavy financial losses for investors,” Singh said.
“One should always take a proper receipt for every deposit and carefully check all documents before handing over their money. Schemes offering unusually high returns should be treated with caution, as they may be fraudulent,” he added.
