BENGALURU: A state government-sponsored website to register cases of cheating by non-banking financial companies — like Banashankari firm Vikram Investments — has remained ‘dormant’ and ‘absent’ from the virtual world.
Christened I-Viveka and launched on May 3 last year by chief minister
Siddaramaiah in conjunction with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, the portal was set up in the wake of the Vini Vinc and Agrigold cases. The intent was to address financial fraud cases quickly.
Almost a year on, the I-Viveka website does not exist under the same domain name. Instead, a semblance of the website hides under the domain name
www.slcc.kar.nic.in, which means it is not even accessible through a search engine.
Top officials in the government, who were tasked with monitoring the website regularly and addressing cases and complaints of fraud, said the website still faces several administrative hurdles before it becomes operational. But perhaps, the primary concern is bringing multiple stakeholders in the sector on the same page.
“There has been slow progress with the I-Viveka platform. We probably need to publicise it more. Also, the cases are not easy to solve,” said a government official.
No monitoring agency
While the government has no answers on how many complaints have been registered on the website, there is no single agency which appears to be in charge of it. The website states the primary agency handling the platform and portal is the RBI, but it does not specify who will take care of day-to-day affairs for consumers to follow up.
According to I S N Prasad, additional chief secretary (finance), who is part of the state-level coordination committee (SLCC) team which looks into irregularities by private financial companies, the website is still a step in the right direction. “We have made a beginning as otherwise common people who get cheated don’t know where to go,” Prasad said. “There are multiple regulators in this area like RBI, SEBI, Registrar of Companies. It is very confusing for people. So we came together and made this website. If anyone complains on this website, we route it to the people concerned and pursue it.”
TIMESVIEW
Like most things government, I-Viveka appears to be a case of one step forward and oblivion thereafter. Investment fraud, which is essentially a white-collar version of a confidence trick, happen far too often in our country. While hard to eradicate — there will always be gullible, greedy investors and tricksters to take advantage of them — the damage can be minimized. For that, the authorities must tighten financial regulatory loopholes. I-Viveka needs better implementation, but it’s only the foundation. It is an opportunity for the government to increase vigilance based on this platform and provide people a safety net.
Representative Image
