BHUBANESWAR : Making a startling revelation, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday admitted that he too was taken in by the chit fund lure and cheated by the ponzi companies twice - in 1990 and again in 2002.
Addressing a function to celebrate the National Consumer Day here, Majhi urged people to remain cautious about activities of the chit fund companies to save their hard-earned money.
“I was also a victim of chit fund scam. Two firms duped me in 1990 and 2002. I could not recover my money as the process was very long,” he said.
The chief minister said he was influenced by the sweet talk of the agents and deposited in some schemes after arranging money. “But when the schemes matured, the companies had vanished,” he said.
He said things have changed now as the Centre has brought in new regulations to make the chit fund firms accountable to the depositors unlike the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government amended the Consumer Protection Act in 2019 which is being implemented in the entire country from July 20, 2020. The amended Act has corrected the loopholes in the previous Act of 1986,” he said.
He said the state government has also initiated several measures including formation of Consumer Protection Authority to protect the consumers. The Authority will investigate and provide justice to the consumers if any of their rights have been violated. Consumers can also file their complaints from their homes digitally and get justice, he added.
Majhi said the state government has initiated measures to spread awareness among the people.