Govt plans stiff norms to check ponzi schemes below Rs 100cr

New Delhi:  To check ponzi menace, government plans to bring in a tough set of norms to regulate money- circulation and pyramid marketing businesses involving corpus of less than Rs 100 crore wherein those running illicit schemes would face large penalties and imprisonment.  The new norms would include a detailed definition for ‘money circulation schemes’ to include all money-pooling activities with a corpus of less than Rs 100 crore and not covered under ‘collective investment schemes’ regulated by Sebi.  The new norms, as proposed by the Department of Financial Services after consultation with Sebi, RBI and various government departments and regulators, would also ensure a clampdown against all ‘pyramid marketing activities’, except for those involving transfer of goods or services having a real economic value. However, the issues related to ‘direct selling’ have been left for the Consumer Affairs Ministry to decide.