BJP city president D. Umamaheswara Raju and party State executive members Ch. Kumara Swamy, V. Srimannarayana and Ch. Naresh on Monday demanded that the government take urgent steps to put an end to the illegal call money business that has been flourishing in Vijayawada.
In a press release here, they said call money lenders had ruined hundreds of families through their unscrupulous activity, but the government and law-enforcing agencies had failed to detect the scandal.
The BJP leaders maintained that financial problems facing those doing small businesses would be solved to a large extent if the MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) scheme was properly implemented. Meanwhile, senior advocate Naraharisetti Srihari said the blatant violation of the Moneylenders Act and the Pawnbrokers Act by organisers of the call money racket, allegedly with the tacit support of some government officials and police officers, should be sternly dealt with.
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He demanded that licences be made mandatory for money lenders and said that they were not supposed to collect interest in excess of the principal amount, but it had been happening for a long time, as police and other law-enforcing agencies had shut their eyes to the scandal.
“Call money lenders have to make security deposits on sums lent by them and comply with other regulations of the Reserve Bank of India and the relevant laws of States, but all of them are being flouted with ease,” Mr. Srihari said, suggesting that smooth delivery of institutional credit by banks would put restrain upon private money lenders.
MUDRA scheme will address financial problems facing those doing small businesses, say BJP leaders