Harsher punishment on wrong info as cabinet approves BHBFC bill

$160,000 compensation for air passenger’s death

FE Team | Published: August 27, 2019 00:12:30

The Cabinet approved on Monday in principle the draft of the 'Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Bill 2019' making punishment for providing false statement harsher while taking loan from the corporation, reports UNB.
The approval came from the Cabinet meeting held with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair at her office.
Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam briefed reporters at the Secretariat after the meeting.
"The punishment for providing false statements deliberately to take loan from the corporation has been proposed for a five-year jail term or Tk 0.5 million fine or both raising that from a two-year jail term or Tk 2,000 fine or both," he said.
If anyone uses the name of the corporation in any advertisement or prospectus without any written permission, he or she will be sentenced to six months' jail or be fined with Tk 50,000 or both.
The punishment was six months' jail or only Tk 1,000 fine in the existing Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order 1973, he said.
In the draft bill, some words, including 'loan default', 'chairman of the corporation', and 'director' have been incorporated, said the Cabinet Secretary.
A superseding clause has been inserted in the bill to give it priority over other laws, he said.
Shafiul Alam said the authorised capital for the corporation has been raised to Tk 10 billion from the existing Tk 1.10 billion, while the paidup capital to Tk 5.0 billion from the exiting Tk 1.10 billion.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved in principle the draft of the Air Transport (Montreal Convention 1999) Bill 2019 to pave the way for an air passenger to get some US$ 160,000 (Tk 14 million) as compensation in case of death.
If the bill is transformed into a law, it will also help ensure proper compensation for the injuries of passengers, damages of baggage or cargo goods in the line with the Montreal Convention 1999.
Bangladesh is a signatory to the Montreal Convention which deals with the passengers rights and compensation, but it was not transformed into any law in Bangladesh, said Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam.
"Since we've no law over the convention, we don't get benefits as prescribed in the Convention," he said adding that the draft bill has been placed in the Cabinet meeting to give protection to the air passengers.
"Under the draft bill, we'll get remedy to death and injuries to passengers, damages or delay of baggage and cargo goods," he said.
In the draft bill, some 160,000 US$ has been proposed as compensation for the death of a passenger, while 70 US$ for damaging a kilogram of baggage materials and 27 US$ for damaging a kilogram of cargo goods, said the Cabinet Secretary.
Citing the example of US-Bangla aircraft crash in Nepal, he said only US$ 12,000 (some TK 1.0 million) compensation was given against each victim of death, which would be at least Tk 14 million under the Montreal Convention had Bangladesh enacted the law.
According to the draft bill, the punishment for the violation of any provision of the bill by any airline would be maximum 10 years' jail or Tk 1.0 billion fine, Shafiul Alam said.
"If any airline doesn't provide the compensation according to the draft [coming law], its authority will have to face punishment as well," he said.