FRDI Bill to protect deposits, says PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill is being brought to protect the interest of the bank consumers, even as he termed non-performing assets (NPAs) of state-owned banks as the biggest scam of the UPA government.

“Rumours are being spread regarding FRDI. The government is working for securing interest of customers and protecting their deposits, but contrary news is being spread,” Prime Minister said at the 90th Annual General Meeting of Ficci.

Launching an all out attack against the Congress before second phase of Gujarat elections on Thursday, Mr Modi said banks were pressured during UPA rule to give loans worth thousands of crore to select industrialists.

“This noise over NPAs of banks is the biggest liability handed down by the economists sitting in the previous government,” he said.

Mr Modi asked what organisations like Ficci were doing when people sitting in the previous government were pressurising banks to give loans to select industrialist.  “People sitting in previous government knew, banks knew, corporates knew and organisations linked with markets also knew wrong thing is happening,” he said.  

“These NPAs are the biggest scam of the UPA government. It is a bigger  scam than commonwealth, 2G and coal scam. This in a way was a loot of people money by those in the (UPA) government through select industrialists,” the Prime Minister said.

He sought to know whether an attempt was ever made to wake up those who “silently” watched the entire loot.

Mr Modi said that the government is taking steps to improve the condition of banks.

He also questioned as to why the UPA government did not think of bringing a legislation like the RERA to protect the interests of home buyers and to enhance transparency in the real estate sector.

Mr Modi said that implementation of GST was an old demand of the industry and wanted to know what FICCI was doing to promote it among various players.

He pointed out how even after GST was reduced on restaurants  people were complaining on social media that the restaurants had raised prices of their menu denying them benefit of lower taxes.

He said that government was taking steps to prevent such things but what Ficci was doing on it. Mr Modi noted it takes time to implement a system like GST which is replacing a 70 years old way of doing things.

He asked  Ficci to handhold SMEs and make efforts to ensure that the dues owed to them by big companies are cleared expeditiously.

“Can you do something to clear the MSME dues lying with big companies on time. There are rules in place, yet it is true that dues of small enterprises are generally stuck with big firms,” Mr Modi said. “SMEs are scared of demanding their rightful dues stuck with big enterprises in the fear of losing business. If institutions like Ficci make efforts to solve this problems of SMEs, the economy will get a new pace.”