The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill 2019 was passed unanimously by the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Lok Sabha had given its nod to this bill last week. This bill aims to protect the investors from Ponzi schemes and tackle the menace of illicit deposit taking activities which so far exploited regulatory gaps and lack of strict administrative measures to dupe poor and gullible people. 

The bill provides for severe punishment ranging from 1 year to 10 years and fines ranging from 2 lakh to 50 crore rupees to act as a deterrent. It also has adequate provisions for disgorgenent or repayment of deposits in cases where deposits have been raised illegally. The bill also says that the first claim on the recovered money will be that of depositors.