Ceylinco Shriram high-end depositors urge equal treatment in repayment process
Urging equal treatment, high-end depositors of Ceylinco Shriram complain that they are yet to receive a substantial amount of their dues to fall in line with their low end counterparts in accordance with the Supreme Court approved repayment plan.
The initial payment as per the repayment plan was limited up to Rs.900,000 or 60 per cent of the value deposits whichever is less and this basis should be followed in settling the dues of all depositors, a spokesman of the Ceylinco Shriram Depositors Association said.
The Committee of Chartered Accountants headed by Prof. Lakshman R. Watawela appointed by the Supreme Court for the implementation of the repayment plan has so far settled five installment payments by liquidating the assets of the Shriram Group.
The overall repayments made so far amounts to Rs.2.4 billion while the total liability to depositors was Rs. 6.81 billion.
Under this repayment process, 4646 low-end depositors with security deposits up to Rs.1.5 million each have received a total of Rs. 1.39 billion which is 61 per cent of the value of deposits in this segment.
This category had been paid one per cent over the stipulated limit indicated in the re-payment plan, he added.
However 1150 high-end depositors with security deposits of over Rs.1.5 million have been paid a total Rs.1.03 billion which is only around 23 per cent of the value of deposits in this category. Therefore these depositors alleged that the repayment received by them was 37 per cent less than 60 per cent of the value of the deposits stipulated in the plan.
A sum of Rs. 720 million is the expected cash inflow towards the repayment plan due to Ceylinco Shriram Group from the Celestial Tower project as a realisable amount of a loan given to them, the spokesman revealed.
An ownership of 55 per cent was held by the Shriram Group when this partly completed project was taken over under the revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Assets Act.
Currently all claims are under the consideration of a compensation tribunal appointed under the Act, he said adding that this matter will also come up at the hearing of the Ceylinco Shriram case before the Supreme Court on Monday, August 26.
The majority of the depositors represent the middle class income group who had invested their retirement benefits.
They have lost large sums of money and have no income other than what they got as interest. Most of the depositors are in need of funds for their medical expenses as well as for the needs of their children and have been severely affected mentally and are awaiting a realistic settlement of their deposits.
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