SME Times News Bureau | 18 May, 2013
Pratip Chaudhuri, chairman of the country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), said Saturday that the RBI and SEBI should start public awareness campaigns for depositors on the risk of investing in shady companies.
Chaudhuri's comment came amid the chit-fund catastrophe in West Bengal after the collapse of the scam-tainted Saradha Group.
"Regulatory authorities, particularly RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), should launch campaigns," Chaudhuri said on the sidelines of the ICC Banking Summit in Kolkata.
"The RBI should launch a campaign like 'Jago Grahak Jago'... that when you put money in anywhere, check if it is insured... by the Deposit Insurance Corporation (DIC). Banks should be allowed to display a board that deposits in the bank are insured by DIC," he said.
Choudhuri also called for mass media campaigns to inform investors that higher returns on deposits were associated high higher risks.
The Saradha Group scam left lakhs of depositors bankrupt. They had invested in the company lured by the promise of high interest rates ranging from 25 percent to over 30 percent.
