DC warns of action against moneylenders harassing people

Deputy Commissioner Richard Vincent D’Souza on Saturday said stringent action will be taken if moneylenders are found troubling public and farmers in the district. Presiding over a district-level taskforce committee meeting, the DC said information on illegal moneylenders can be given to the district administration to take action. According to the law, only 14% interest can be levied on secured loans per year and 16% can be charged on unsecured loans. If there is any excess charge of rate of interest, it is illegal. The common people can bring it to the notice of either district administration or cooperation department or even the police, he said.

The DC also advised the people against relying on unauthorised financial firms and also pawnbrokers. Instead, people should make use of various benefits provided by the government, he said. Deputy registrar of cooperation department Vijaykumar said, “If anybody is indulging in moneylending in violation of Cooperation Act, people can lodge a complaint with the department.”It is mandatory for moneylenders and financial firms to obtain licence under Section 4 of Karnataka Moneylenders Act 1961 and for pawnbrokers it is compulsory under Section 3 of Karnataka Pawnbrokers’ Act. The chit firms should also obtain licence, he said.

Assistant commissioner Nanjunde Gowda, joint director of agriculture department K Ramappa, deputy director of animal husbandry department Dr C Nagaraj, deputy director of horticulture department B R Girish, DySP Chabbi, manager of cooperation department Mohan attended the meeting.