Impact of Inflation on Unlicensed Moneylending Cases Reported
In the April 2022 sitting, I asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there has been any uptick in unlicensed moneylending (“UML”) cases. My concern was that, with the increase in cost of living, unscrupulous unlicensed moneylenders may target vulnerable persons within our communities and subject them to loans with astronomical interest rates and harassment if they default in payment of the loans. Minister of State, Mr Desmond Tan, replied stating that his Ministry has not detected an uptick and will continue to closely monitor the situation. I responded by suggesting to the Minister of State that the Police consider proactively monitoring ads issued by unlicensed moneylenders through platforms such as Telegram, WhatsApp and text messages so that they can be taken down as soon as possible. My question and the Minister of State’s reply may be accessed below.
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Mr Murali Pillai asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether there has been an uptick of unlicensed moneylending cases being reported since October 2021 when Singapore’s inflation rate started increasing; and (b) what proactive steps have been identified to ensure that unlicensed moneylenders do not take advantage of the inflationary pressures to exploit vulnerable people.
The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Mr Desmond Tan) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, we have not detected an uptick in unlicensed moneylending, or UML, cases since October 2021. Between October and December 2021, there were 917 cases of UML and UML-related harassment cases reported. This was an 8% decrease compared to the same period in 2020.
The Police take a tough stance against UML activities. In 2021, the Police conducted 11 major enforcement operations and investigated a total of 1,682 subjects. The Police also actively work and share information with foreign enforcement agencies to dismantle UML syndicates that are operating from outside of Singapore. In addition, the Police work closely with the banks to disrupt the operations of UML syndicates.
Police have also been enhancing outreach efforts to educate the public against borrowing from or working for unlicensed moneylenders. The Police are planning a new run of the anti-UML campaign to educate and remind the members of public on the perils of borrowing from unlicensed moneylenders.
Mr Speaker: Mr Pillai.
Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the hon Minister of State for his reply. I am glad to note that the Police is starting the anti-UML campaign now.
Given the higher inflationary pressures that we now face, I wonder if the Police would proactively monitor ads through SMS text messages, WhatsApp messages and Telegram and other similar platforms to see whether these ads are from unlicensed moneylenders and, if so, proactively stop the circulation of these ads.
Mr Desmond Tan: I thank the Member for the suggestion. Indeed, that the Police do monitor the current trends, but I would like to, first of all, say that we think the current situation of unlicensed moneylenders is under control.
We will continue to look at how we can strengthen our levers and also on measures to educate the members of public on the perils of unlicensed moneylender borrowing and also monitor the modes in which unlicensed moneylenders are using to transmit the advertisements and promotion through different means.
