Haliyal: In the wake of complaints related to usury by certain microfinance institutions in Haliyal, a comprehensive report will be sent to the deputy commissioner for suitable actions to save the poor from the clutches of such institutions, said Tahsildar Vidyadhar Gulguli. He was chairing a meeting of self-help groups which met him for redressal of their grievances.

Most of the woman alleged that an organization was cheating them by charging high rate of interest on petty loans taken by them, in contravention of the RBI rules. They said employees of the organization were acting like usurers by visiting their houses and harassing them for repayment of loans and interest.

Umesh Bolshetty, chief of Haliyal Town panchayat, said the state government was encouraging poor women to form self-help groups to make them self-sufficient.

On the other hand, the organization, for the last 12 years, has been collecting crores of rupees as savings from women and duping them by advancing their own money as loans. He warned legal action to the organization.