Frustrated depositors of Standard Credit Finance plan street protests
Depositors of one of Sri Lanka’s collapsed finance companies, frustrated after long years of promises and failed negotiations, are planning to take to the streets in protest.
This is because Standard Credit Finance Company (SCFC) is yet to repay more than 4,000 depositors in a total sum of around Rs.1.9 billion. The depositors formed a ‘Standard Credit Depositor Protection Society’ (SCDPS) to fight to claim their dues and have been desperate for the last eight long years.
Last Sunday (January 22), the SCDPS hierarchy met in Bambalapitiya to plan out a strategy to compel the authorities to make sure the company returns their deposits.
C.R. Baranasuriya, one of the Committee members told the Business Times, that they handed over a memorandum outlining their grievances and calling for an immediate solution, to the Central Bank Governor on September 2, 2016.
The Governor had handed over the document to a deputy governor and assured the SCDPS that their problems would be solved within six months.
However, he pointed out that, nearly six months has passed but action is yet to be taken.
He said that Prof. Harendra Disa Bandara, present Chairman, Board of Directors, SCFC appointed by the CB Non-Banking Supervision Division has said that he (Prof. Bandara) would resign from his position, if he could not resolve the problems of the SCFC depositors by December 2016.
The promise was made a year ago but Prof. Bandara remains in office. In the meantime the board continues to draws salaries. He pointed out that the CB has been collecting at the rate of 10 per cent from each deposit from all the finance companies to a fund Liquid Support System (LSS)) to safeguard finance companies. The fund now stands at Rs. 54 billion, Mr. Baranasuriya said that the fund has not been utilised for the purpose for which it was established.
He said that these authorities concerned are sitting in air-conditioned offices and conveniently make promises, but nothing tangible comes out of these promises to ease the untold sufferings of the depositors. He urged the authorities to at least consider apportioning a part of this fund to pay these depositors money.