Definitions

2. Definitions.- In this Act unless the context otherwise requires,- (1) “Competent Authority” means the authority appointed under Section 5; (2) “Deposit” includes and shall be deemed always to have included any receipt of money or acceptance of any valuable commodity by any Financial Establishment to be returned after a specified period or otherwise, either in cash or in kind or in the form of a specified service with or without any benefit in the form of interest, bonus, profit or in any other form, but does not include,- (i) amount raised by way of share capital or by way of debenture, bond or any other instrument covered under the guidelines given and regulations made, by the Security Board of India, established under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992; (ii) amounts contributed as capital by partners of a firm; (iii) amounts received from a scheduled bank or a co-operative bank or any other banking company as defined in clause (c) of section 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act 15 of 1992) ; (iv) any amount received from,- (a) the Industrial Development Bank of India, (b) a State Financial Corporation, (c) any financial institution specified in or under section 4A of the Companies Act, 1956(Central Act 1 of 1956) or (d) any other institution that may be specified by the Government in this behalf; (v) amounts received in the ordinary course of business by way of,- (a) security deposit, (b) dealership deposit, (c) earnest money, (d) advanced against order for goods or services; (vi) any amount received from an individual or a firm or an association of individuals, registered under any enactment relating to money lending which is for the time being in force in the State: and (vii) any amount received by way of subscriptions in respect of a Chit. Explanation I.- “Chit” has the meaning as assigned to it in clause (b) of section 2 of the Chit Funds Act, 1982 (Central Act 40 of 1982); Explanation II.- Any credit given by a seller to a buyer on the sale of any property (whether movable or immovable) shall not be deemed to be deposit for the purposes of this clause; (3) "Depositor" means a person who has made deposits with Financial Establishment hereinafter defined but excludes any former or present promoter, owner, partner in any form, Director, manager, member, administrator, accountant or collaborator, employee or any other person with the said establishment or its subsidiaries, whose complicity in the fraudulent activity is proved. (4) “Financial Establishment” means any person or a group of individuals accepting deposit under any scheme or arrangement or in any other manner but does not include a corporation or a co-operative society owned or controlled by any State Government or the Central Government or a banking company as defined under clause (c) of section 5 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Central Act X of 1949); (4-a) "Market intelligence" means and includes the process of gathering actionable information from all available sources, but not restricted to resources on the internet, regulatory departments, media publications, advertisements whether in print or electronic media or inducing another person to invest in, or become a member or participant of any scheme, social media, surveys and polls, complaints and grievances submitted online manually or orally, or representations from advocates or associations authorized by depositors, about a financial establishment regarding its qualitative and Performance Indicators, financial position and market quantitative Key trends, current and former owners, directors, promoters, partners, agents etc, schemes, regulatory compliances, promotional activities and analysis using suitable tools for the purpose of accurate and confident decision making in determining and regulating fraudulent activities, if any with an objective of protecting the interest of depositors under this Act. (5) “Government “ means the State Government; (6)„Special Court‟ means court established under section 10. In the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004 (Karnataka Act 30 of 2005) (hereinafter referred to as the Principal Act) in section 2, after clause (4), the following shall be inserted, namely:- “(4a) “Market intelligence” means and includes the process of gathering information from all available sources about a financial establishment regarding its financial position and market trends and analysis for the purpose of accurate and confident decision making in determining the fraudulent activities, if any” In the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act, 2004 (Karnataka Act 30 of 2005) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), after section 9, the following section shall be inserted, namely:- “9A Cognizance of offence and power to club cases.- (1) Offence under this Act are cognizable and Non bailable. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for time being in force, if multiple First Information Reports are registered either in one Police station or in various police stations of the District or Commissionerate or in various police stations of the State against the same accused person or Financial Establishment relating to fraudulent default, then such an officer as may be prescribed may order for clubbing of subsequent registered First Information Reports into the earliest case and order to carry on common investigation. Further the common Final Report be filed under section 173 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 before the Special Court, within which jurisdiction the earliest First Information report was registered and that Special Court or any other Special Court designated for trial of such offence shall try the same.” (2) for clause (4a), the following shall be substituted, namely:- “(4-a) "Market intelligence" means and includes the process of gathering actionable information from all available sources, but not restricted to resources on the internet, regulatory departments, media publications, advertisements whether in print or electronic media or inducing another person to invest in, or become a member or participant of any scheme, social media, surveys and polls, complaints and grievances submitted online manually or orally, or representations from advocates or associations authorized by depositors, about a financial establishment regarding its qualitative and Performance Indicators, financial position and market quantitative Key trends, current and former owners, directors, promoters, partners, agents etc, schemes, regulatory compliances, promotional activities and analysis using suitable tools for the purpose of accurate and confident decision making in determining and regulating fraudulent activities, if any with an objective of protecting the interest of depositors under this Act.”