New Delhi: To prevent loan defaulters like Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi leaving the country, the corporate affairs ministry is looking at a proposal to seek passport details of all individuals, who have been permitted to serve as directors on the board of companies.
Sources said that prospective Director Identification Number (DIN) seekers will have to submit passport details for obtaining the 8-digit unique ID provided by the ministry.
DIM is a unique identification number allotted to an individual who is appointed as a director of a company.
The DIN application form will be suitably modified to include the passport detail column, sources said, adding that it is contingent upon the proposal being approved by the ministry.
Earlier, the finance ministry had said that passport details of borrowers taking loans of '50 crore and more have been made mandatory to ensure a swift action in case of fraud and prevent fraudsters from fleeing the country.
Sources in the corporate affairs ministry said that in case, a person with DIN does not have a passport, the ministry plans to obtain a certificate in the form of declaration that the person does not have a passport.
Passport details in the digital warehouse will help authorities take timely action and check fraudsters from fleeing the country.
In absence of passport details, banks were hamstrung in taking timely action to prevent defaulters from flying out of the country.
Last week, the government tabled a bill seeking to confiscate assets of absconding fraudsters against the outstanding loan.
The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018, aims to impound and sell assets of fugitives such as diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is alleged to be behind the nearly Rs 13,000 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank. The proposed law will apply to defaulters who have an outstanding of Rs 100 crore or more and have escaped from the country.
