(a) whether cases of consumers being entrapped by the Recurring Deposit agents in post
offices have come to light;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the action being taken against these corrupt agents and officials colluding with them;
(d) whether the Government proposes to reimburse the money of the Recuring Deposit (RD)
amount deposited by consumers to these agents;
(e) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(f) the number of such cases reported so far, State-wise?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(DR. SHAKEEL AHMAD)
(a) Cases of defrauding the depositors of Recurring Deposit Accounts of Post Office
Savings Bank by Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojna (MPKBY) Agents have been noticed.
(b) Total 85 cases as in (a) above, have been detected in various Post Offices of the
Country. Three types of frauds are noticed viz.
(i) the amount was collected by the MPKBY
Agents from the depositors but not credited in the Post Office,
(ii) the amount was shown as
deposited by falsification of records like making entries and impressing postal stamps in
pass books in collusion with postal employees, and
(iii) misusing the blank withdrawal forms
got deceitfully signed from depositors while opening the account, or forging signatures of
depositors to get maturity/premature closure amounts.
(c) The agency sanctioning authorities i.e. the Small Savings Authorities of State
Governments are asked to cancel the agencies of errant MPKBY Agents. The cases are also
reported to police. Disciplinary action is also taken against the postal officials involved
for their complicity.
(d) & (e) In cases where the authenticated entries of deposits are produced by the
depositors establishing entrustment of deposits to the post office, justified claims of the
defrauded depositors are settled. In absence of any such proof, the Department of Posts is
not liable for reimbursement of money given by depositors to the MPKBY Agents.
(f) State-wise details of the number of such cases reported is given in the Annexure.