<span style="color: #222222;">The Rajya Sabha today discussed the Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2019.<br />'' <br />'' The bill seeks to amend the Chit Funds Act, 1982 which regulates chit funds and prohibits a fund from being created without the prior sanction of a State Government.<br />'' <br />'' The amendments have been made to facilitate the orderly growth of the chit fund sector to remove bottlenecks and enable greater financial access to people.<br />'' <br />'' As per the legislation, the prescribed ceiling of aggregate chit fund amount for individuals has been raised from one lakh rupees to three lakh rupees. In the case of firms, the ceiling has been raised from six lakh to 18 lakh rupees.<br />'' <br />'' Besides, words like chit amount, dividend and prize amount have been substituted with terms gross chit amount, the share of discount and net chit amount. The legislation also increases the maximum commission of a foreman from five per cent to seven per cent and also allows the foreman a right to lien against the credit balance from subscribers.<br />'' <br />'' Moving the bill, Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur said it has been made transparent to protect the interests of the poor. He said the government has taken care of the interests of small investors while drafting the legislation. P. Bhattacharya of Congress said the government's intention is good but the legislation needs clarity in terms of provisions related to returning of money if cheated.<br />'' <br />'' He demanded that the bill be sent to the Select Committee. Dr. Amar Patnaik of BJD said a stringent regulatory mechanism is needed so that people are not cheated. Manish Gupta of TMC said an insurance cover should be provided to people if cheated by chit fund companies.<br />'' <br />'' Ravi Prakash Verma of SP, N. Gopalakrishnan of AIADMK, Dr. Anil Jain of BJP, Ram Nath Thakur of JDU also took part in the discussion.</span><br />''