“Initiating quick follow up and taking cases to logical conclusion by punishing the guilty is paramount to deter entities in future from carrying out unlawful activity. I hope ‘Sachet’ would help regulators in doing this as much as it would help members of public in depositing their hard earned money with genuine entities by giving them timely information about these entities.”

Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India said while launching ‘Sachet’ (सचेत) – a website from which the members of public would be able to obtain information regarding entities that are allowed to accept deposits, lodge complaints and also share information regarding illegal acceptance of deposits by unscrupulous entities. The website would also help enhance coordination among regulators and State Government agencies and thus be useful in curbing instances of unauthorised acceptance of deposits by unscrupulous entities. The Governor also acknowledged the role of Shri U. K. Sinha, Chairman, SEBI and State Chief Secretaries in revitalising SLCCs.

The URL of the website is www.sachet.rbi.org.in

Explaining the features of the website, Deputy Governor Shri S. S. Mundra said, members of the public can on the website check whether or not a particular entity seeking to accept public deposits is registered with any regulator and whether the entity is permitted to accept deposits. The website also incorporates regulations prescribed by all financial regulators that different entities have to follow. Further, members of public can file and track a complaint on this website if any entity has illegally accepted money from them and/or defaulted in repayment of deposits. They can also share information regarding any such entity on this portal.

The website also has a section for closed user group for SLCCs on which they would be able to share market intelligence and other information relating to their activities, including agenda and minutes of their meetings, across the country on a real time basis. Shri Mundra hoped that the website will act as a “force multiplier” and go a long way in making the functioning of SLCCs more effective and curbing the menace of unauthorised money raising activities.

Shri S. Raman, Whole Time Member of SEBI was present at the launch. Shri Raman lauded the effort of launching the website and said that it would play a useful role in adding preventive and educative elements to fight against unscrupulous entities accepting public deposits. Other regulators, such as IRDA representatives of State Governments participated in the launch event through video conference. The Chief Secretaries of the States, who joined the launch through video conference, welcomed the step and said that it would play the useful role in ensuring inter-agency coordination. A small video walkthrough of the website was shown during the launch to highlight the main features of the website.

Background

All States/Union Territories have State Level Coordination Committees (SLCCs). SLCCs comprise various regulators, namely, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), National Housing Bank (NHB), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Registrar of Companies (ROC) and concerned State Government departments, such as, Home Department, Finance Department, Law Department and various Police Authorities. SLCCs were reconstituted in 2014 in each State to monitor unauthorised collection of deposits and they meet more frequently under the chairmanship of Chief Secretaries/Administrators of the concerned States/Union Territories (UTs) with participation of senior level officials of the States and the regulators. SLCCs meet frequently with the top officials from all these agencies participating to share information about the entities which are involved in unauthorised acceptance of deposits and initiate action against them in a timely manner.

Verification of authorised deposit takers now enabled online, with complaint filing and inter agency intelligence sharing to curb illegal collections. The Reserve Bank launched the 'Sachet' website to enable the public to verify whether an entity is authorised to accept deposits, view consolidated regulator requirements, file and track complaints about illegal deposit-taking or defaults, and share information. The portal includes a closed user group for State Level Coordination Committees to exchange intelligence, agendas and minutes in real time, strengthening inter agency coordination and facilitating timely collective action against unauthorised deposit mobilisation.