• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

The attractive interest rates offered by the firm and the promise of higher bonus and flexibility of payment lured us into depositing in the firm. However, this has been short-lived, the depositors said.

HYDERABAD, June 6

AFTER a series of incidents involving co-operative banks and depositors, a Kolkata-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) — Sanchayani Savings and Investments (India) Ltd, has shut its office here.

According to a group of depositors, the NBFC had suddenly downed shutters in the twin cities recently causing panic and left them high and dry. The NBFC has caused loss in excess of Rs 2 crore in Hyderabad branch alone, they alleged.

The depositors demanded confiscation of assets and property of the NBFC to make good their investments at a news conference here in the presence of party MLA, Mr Prem Singh Rathore, and the city BJP President, Mr Ch. Ramachandra Reddy.

The depositors have also taken up the matter with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, and requested for follow up action.

When some of the depositors visited the firm's office in Kolkata and demanded refund of their deposits, they were reportedly promised cheque payment, but it was yet to materialise. "We have now demanded the State Government and the RBI to intervene to redress our grievances,'' they said.

The attractive interest rates offered by the firm and the promise of higher bonus and flexibility of payment lured us into depositing in the firm. However, this has been short-lived, the depositors said.

The NBFC, which had commenced operations in Hyderabad in 1995, has branches in Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam. Through its agents, the firm had mobilised funds from across the State.

With a host of financial firms including some co-operative banks such as Krushi, Sravya and Charminar collapsing, this should serve as a wake up call for depositors not to invest in small NBFCs, they said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Moody's to pick Vysya Bank stake in ICRA

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line