The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has an important warning for the public. The country’s apex bank RBI has cautioned the public not to fall prey to misleading advertisements related to loan waiver offers on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and others.
In a statement, RBI said that it has noticed certain misleading advertisements enticing borrowers by offering loan waivers. It further noticed that these entities seem to be actively promoting many such campaigns in the print and social media platforms. There are reports of such entities charging a service or legal fee for issuing ‘debt waiver certificates’ without any authority, it added.
RBI has also come to notice that in certain locations, campaigns are being run by a few persons, which undermines the efforts of Banks in enforcing their rights over the securities charged to them. It said that such entities are misrepresenting that dues to financial institutions, including Banks, need not be repaid.
The statement further added that such activities undermine the stability of financial institutions and, above all, the interest of the depositors. RBI cautioned that associating with such entities can result in financial losses.
RBI cautioned borrowers about such false and misleading campaigns and urged them to report such incidents to law enforcement agencies.
No plans to regulate social media influencers
Earlier this year, RBI stated that it does not have any plans to introduce distinct regulations governing the activities of social media influencers in the financial markets. “The RBI is not planning to issue any separate guidelines to regulate financial market influencers since the Sebi is already doing so,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.
The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, however, said that there has been a profusion of apps that promise investors unrealistic financial returns and that they are no more than Ponzi schemes.
