The cabinet has approved a draft law that proposes harsher punishment for giving false information while seeking loan from the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC).
The draft of “The Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Act, 2019” was approved at the weekly cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at the Prime Minister Office (PMO) in the capital on Monday, report UNB and BSS.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed the reporters in the secretariat.
Shafiul Alam informed that the cabinet approved in principle ‘The Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Act, 2019’ bringing some changes to the existing ‘Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order 1973.’
“The punishment for providing false statements deliberately to take loan from the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation has been proposed for a five-year jail term or Tk 500,000 fine or both," the cabinet secretary said.
Existing Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order 1973 keeps a two-year jail term or Tk 2,000 fine or both as the punishment for the offence.
If anyone uses the name of the corporation in any advertisement or prospectus without any written permission, he or she will be sentenced to six months’ jail or be fined with Tk 50,000 or both.
The punishment for the offence is six months’ jail or only Tk 1,000 fine in the existing Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order 1973, he said.
In the draft bill, some words, including ‘loan default’, ‘chairman of the corporation’, and ‘director’ have been incorporated, said the Cabinet Secretary.
A superseding clause has been inserted in the bill to give it priority over other laws, he said.
"The amendment proposal also sought to enhance the authorised capital to Taka 10.00 billion and paid-up capital to Taka 5.00 billion from the existing Taka 1.10 billion in both the cases," he continued.