KATHMANDU: The government-established Commission dedicated to investigating and resolving usury-related cases has successfully addressed 5,155 out of the 28,000-plus complaints received to date.
Uttamraj Subedi, a Commission member and also Additional Inspector General of Police, highlighted that since its inception, the Commission has facilitated the return of a total area of 218 bigha, 10 kattha, and 7 dhur (793) to victims from usurious lenders through reconciliations.
The Commission’s study revealed written transactions exceeding Rs 5.857 billion between victims and loan sharks. However, the loan sharks claimed that over Rs 1.62 billion remained unrecovered from the victims.
Of these cases, transactions totaling over Rs 1.72 billion were settled through mutual agreement, stated the Commission.
Applications from victims were collected by the Commission between April 30 and May 28. A total of 21,552 complaints were registered from eight districts in Madhesh Province, with an additional 1,862 complaints filed from Nawalparashi Paschim.
Commission Chairperson Gauri Bahadur Karki informed that the Commission submitted its report to the Prime Minister last Tuesday. According to Chairperson Karki, usury problems were absent in 39 districts, while the remaining 29 districts had a limited number of cases that were registered and resolved.
The present government established a 3-member high-powered Commission to address issues related to loan-sharking. The Parliament has enacted laws concerning this matter, and these laws are now in effect.
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