Mysuru: Residents of Mysuru and nearby areas staged a protest against fly-by-night companies like PACL, Saiprasada, Samruddha Jeevana, Agri Gold and other investment firms that have shut down over the past decade after collecting monthly deposits from the public and committing fraud.

These companies deceived unsuspecting citizens who entrusted their hard-earned money in good faith. The aggrieved depositors have begun protesting in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) offices across the State since Sept. 1. The protesters gathered at the new DC’s office in Siddarthanagar, Mysuru, on Monday, demanding Government intervention to ensure the refund of their deposits. They also submitted a memorandum to the DC’s Office in this regard.

“According to the Banning of Unregulated Deposits (BUDS) Act, 2019, companies are required to refund deposit money within 180 days. However, even after five years of the Act’s implementation, neither the Central nor State Governments have returned the money, despite receiving applications from affected depositors,” the protesters said.

“Crores of people have suffered significant losses. The officials appointed under the Act are supposed to investigate complaints of fraud, but no action has been taken so far,” they complained.

The protesters further alleged that vested interests are attempting to undermine the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Act (BUDS Act). “Lakhs of people in both urban and rural areas have been cheated out of their savings by these companies. Despite submitting refund applications to the District Administration and relevant authorities, we have not received our money. We demand that Parliament and the Government uphold the sanctity of the BUDS Act, ensure the refund of deposit money to the victims and punish those responsible,” they said.

Allabaksh, Venkataramu, M.S. Ramamurthy, Harish, H.M. Shivanna and many others participated in the protest.