Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Number of Cases of Harassment by Licensed Moneylenders in the Past Three Years, by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Mr. Desmond Choo: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) for the past three years, what is the number of (i) cases of harassment by licensed moneylenders and (ii) persons prosecuted for unlicensed/licensed moneylending-related harassment; and (b) what are the new trends in such harassment.

Answer:

1.   From 2018 to 2020, the Registry of Moneylenders received 75 complaints pertaining to the conduct of debt collectors engaged by licensed moneylenders, including the harassment of borrowers. The number of complaints has remained stable in the past three years.

2.   In the same period, 2,429 persons were prosecuted for harassment related to unlicensed moneylending. The Police do not track the number of prosecutions of harassment cases that are related to licensed moneylenders.

3.   As for the trend in harassment by unlicensed moneylenders, the number of reports rose from 4,608 in 2018 to 5,281 in 2019, but fell to 3,336 in 2020. The majority of these unlicensed moneylending harassment cases involved non-damage and non-confrontational methods, such as sending messages, phone calls, and placing harassment notes in letterboxes.