Three MFI employees held for harassing loanees Kurnool, Oct 22 (INN): Three employees of two Microfinance Institutions were arrested by the Yemmiganur police, Kurnool district, late on Thursday night on charges of harassing a defaulter to recover loans. According to police, the arrests followed complaints registered under the Ordinance which had been promulgated by the state government last week. The complaints were filed by one Ammalu who had taken Rs 70,000 from the two MFIs as loan and defaulted on the loans. She stated in her complaint that the collection agents of the two companies had harassed her since the past two month for repayment. Ammulu borrowed a total of Rs 70,000 from SKS and Spandana and later defaulted on payments.
Following the complaint, the police arrested Venkateshwarulu and Ramesh, both employees of SKS and Pullaiah of Spandana Microfinance institutions under Section 16 of the AP Microfinance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Ordinance-2010. Police also registered cases under Sections 341, 506 IPC against the three MFIs employees.
The police did not rule out the arrest of the companies promoters, who can also be booked under the new Ordinance. The police stated that the arrested employees claimed that they had sought repayment from Ammalu under orders from the company promoters. The arrests were the first under the Ordinance which was given the nod by Governor ESL Narasimhan last week.
The accused can face imprisonment up to three years and can be also fined up to Rs one lakh for their arm-twisting methods in trying to recover the loans. Earlier, Director General of Police K Arvinda Rao had ordered that the police show no leniency in booking cases against erring MFIs.
News Posted: 22 October, 2010
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