Hon. Kabir Hashim

Hon. Kabir Hashim raised concerns regarding a Bill that would classify community-based organizations — including funeral aid societies, voluntary societies, and not-for-profit women's community organizations with lending programmes — as lending societies, subjecting them to additional regulatory oversight and inclusion in the Credit Information Bureau (CRIB). He argued that this classification would undermine such organizations and called for an amendment to the Bill, directly asking whether the amendment would be accepted.

The speech transcript provided is too brief to summarize substantively. The Hon. Kabir Hashim simply addressed the Deputy Speaker and requested permission to ask a question, without proceeding to state the question or make any substantive argument or proposal.

Hon. Kabir Hashim raised two key concerns regarding the Bill under debate. First, he questioned whether community-based organizations, voluntary organizations, and funeral aid societies would be classified separately or brought under the same legislative framework and subjected to its regulations. Second, he warned that if such voluntary organizations are reclassified as lending bodies under the Bill, their borrowers would be required to undergo Credit Information Bureau (CRIB) checks, which would disadvantage low-income individuals who rely on informal community mutual organizations as a last resort for credit when unable to access formal bank loans. He indicated he had additional points but concluded due to time constraints.

Hon. Kabir Hashim acknowledged the Bill's timeliness while identifying two fundamental deficiencies: the exclusion of licensed banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) from the regulatory scope, and the inappropriate treatment of community-based and voluntary organisations under the same framework as commercial lenders. He argued that banks and NBFIs, citing examples such as LOLC Finance PLC with Rs. 24 billion in microfinance exposure, are significant contributors to over-indebtedness among low-income and informal sector workers, and that their exclusion reflects continued Government deference to banking interests. On behalf of the Opposition, he proposed an amendment to expressly bring licensed banks and NBFIs within the Bill's regulatory purview. He further contended that community-based organisations, which have historically served those excluded from formal finance, require a lighter-touch regulatory framework rather than the full compliance burden imposed on commercial microfinance institutions.