The Sahara Group has taken umbrage over a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) advertisement, issued earlier this week, asking customers to be cautious about deposits raised by the Sahara India Pariwar and has challenged the central bank’s jurisdiction to do so.
Sahara Pariwar, in a letter to the central bank, has said that there are a host of companies in the group which are raising funds and come under the purview of other regulators, which are not governed by the RBI. These companies include Sahara India Life Insurance, Sahara Asset Management, Sahara Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation.
Challenging the banking regulator, Sahara said that Sahara Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation are issuing optionally fully convertible debentures and these investments do not come under the RBI’s purview. Similarly, it also pointed out that the Sahara Credit Cooperative Society is promoting micro savings for micro lending, which also do not come under RBI regulations.
The RBI on January 18 had issued an advertisement in leading newspapers stating that it had received complaints that Sahara group of companies has been mobilizing deposits from the public under the generic name of Sahara Pariwar.
The central bank had cautioned the public stating that when money is collected in the name of Sahara Pariwar, they should verify the name of the company which issues the deposit receipt and whether the company is authorized by the RBI to accept deposits from the public.
They were also cautioned that the RBI does not guarantee repayment of deposits accepted by Sahara India Financial Corporation (SIFCL) or any other company in the group.
“Though you admit and clarify that only three companies are registered with opt premeditation, to cause injury to the group and to defame it, you have generalized the said advertisement by referring to Sahara Pariwar and Sahara India Pariwar,” said the letter dated January 19 to the RBI. TOI has a copy of the letter. When contacted by TOI for its comments to the Sahara letter, the RBI did not respond. The Sahara group, on the other hand, said; “We have sent a request for a corrigendum since the RBI notice is unbelievably misleading.”
The Sahara group also said in the letter that none of its group companies has raised funds from the public on the grounds that these are guaranteed by the Reserve Bank of India. According to the group, the advertisement is a departure from RBI’s standard practice of referring any public complaint to the firm for redressal of the grievance. The group has asked the RBI to forward copies of the complaint referred to in its advertisement and has asked for a corrigendum to be published in newspapers.
