Panel provides opportunities to certain applicants to rectify deficiencies in their earlier applications

A high-powered committee, set up to manage refunds for PACL investors, on Monday provided an opportunity to certain applicants, having claims of up to Rs 17,000, to rectify deficiencies in their earlier applications.

The committee noted that certain applications having claims up to Rs 17,000 could not be processed due to various deficiencies and therefore, they are providing an opportunity to the investors to rectify the deficiencies.

The refund process of claims between Rs 15,001 to Rs 17,000, will be allowed from June 15 to September 14, 2023.

Sebi has created an online portal to process investors' refunds.

According to a public notice on Sebi's website, investors having claims up to Rs 17,000 can log in at www.sebipaclrefund.co.in to apply for refunds, check their status and rectify deficiencies, if any, in their applications.

The panel, headed by retired Justice R M Lodha, has been set up to manage refunds for investors who invested money in PACL.

The committee had earlier allowed refunds of up to Rs 15,000 claims and had provided the opportunity to investors to rectify deficiencies, if any, in their respective claim applications between November 2022 and January 2023. The refund process started in January 2020 with claims of Rs 5,000.

The committee is now providing a similar opportunity from June 15, 2023, to investors/applicants with claims between Rs 15,001 to 17,000, whose claim applications were found deficient, to make good the deficiencies, the notice said.

PACL, also known as Pearl Group, which had raised money from the public in the name of agriculture and real estate business, was found by Sebi to have collected more than Rs 60,000 crore through an illegal collective investment scheme (CIS) over a period of 18 years.

In December 2015, the Securities and Exchange Board Board of India (Sebi) ordered the attachment of all assets of PACL and its nine promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money which was due to investors.

Sebi had asked PACL as well as its promoters and directors to refund the money in an order dated August 22, 2014. The defaulters were directed to wind up the schemes and refund money to the investors within three months from the date of the order.