Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005
Chapter VII: Offences
and Penalties
23. Offences and
penalties.-
1.
Whoever,
in any return or other document or in any information required or furnished by,
or under, or for the purposes of, any provision of this Act, wilfully makes a
statement which is false in any material particular, knowing it to be false, or
wilfully omits to make a material statement, shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and shall also be liable
to fine.
2.
Every
credit information company or a credit institution or any specified user,
willfully, performing any act or engaging in any practice, in breach of any of
the principles referred to in section 20, shall be punishable with fine not
exceeding one crore rupees.
3.
Any
credit information company or credit institution or specified user willfully
providing to any other credit information company or credit institution or
specified user or borrower or client, as the case may be, credit information
which is false in any material particular, knowing it to be false, or willfully
omits to make a material statement, shall be punishable with fine which may
extend to one crore rupees.
4.
Any
person who contravenes any provision of this Act or of any rule or order made
there under, or obstructs the lawful exercise of any power conferred by or
under this Act, or makes default in complying with any requirement of this Act
or of any rule or order made or direction issued there under, shall, if no
specific provision is made under this Act for punishment of such contravention,
obstruction or default, be punishable with fine which may extend to one lakh
rupees and where a contravention or default is a continuing one, with a further
fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which the
contravention or default continues.
5.
Where
a contravention or default has been committed by a credit information company
or credit institution or specified user, as the case may be, every person who,
at the time the contravention or default was committed, was in charge of, and
was responsible to the credit information company or credit institution or
specified user for the conduct of its business, shall be deemed to be guilty of
the contravention or default and shall be liable to be proceeded against and
punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this
sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in
this Act if he proves that the contravention or default was committed without
his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the
contravention or default.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (5), where a contravention or default has
been committed by a credit information company or credit institution or
specified user, as the case may be, and it is proved that the same was
committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any gross
negligence on the part of its chairperson, managing director, any other
director, manager, secretary or other officer of the credit information company
or the credit institution, such chairperson, managing director, any other
director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty
of that contravention or default and shall be liable to be proceeded against
and punished accordingly.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this
section,-
a.
"company"
means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of
individuals, and
b.
"director",
in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.