Debated in Parliament on 5 Apr 2022.
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.
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. 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 Murali Pillai.
Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the hon Minister of State for his reply. I am glad to note that the Police are 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.
I thank the Member for the suggestion. Indeed, 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.
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