Moneylife Foundation urges the PM and others to completely ban MLM companies in India or bring these companies under the regulation of either RBI or SEBI. Moneylife was the first to expose the Speak Asia online survey scam on 8 October 2010

Moneylife Foundation has been writing against multi-level marketing schemes for some time now. Following the exposé by Moneylife on Speak Asia Online Pte Ltd and its multi-level marketing schemes, Moneylife Foundation has sent a representation to prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, finance secretary Sushama Nath and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao urging them to ban all MLM companies and their schemes in the country, or to bring all MLM companies under the regulation of either the RBI or the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), to stop them ensnaring gullible people.

According to Moneylife Foundation trustees, while the investor population in the country has fallen to 80 lakh, Speak Asia has managed to lure nearly 19 lakh people into its get-rich-quick scheme. The number accounts for a sizeable portion of India's investor population as well as internet users.

Speak Asia requires its members or 'panellists' to deposit Rs11,000 (though the rates vary, as we have seen in the countless posts by agents of Speak Asia on various sites) and then conduct surveys for which the company pays Rs500 per panellist per survey. A panellist gets an added commission if he recruits new members. There is no guarantee as to who will return the money if the company collapses.

It claimed to have conducted surveys for companies like ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Nestle and Bata, but all these institutions have denied their association with Speak Asia. At a press conference held in Mumbai on 16th May, Speak Asia formally apologised for using the names of these companies. But it also refused to name a single client.

Singapore-based Speak Asia was previously known as Haren Technology Pte Ltd and is owned by one Ms Harinder Kaur. The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) of Singapore has given it a non-compliant rating on the ACRA website for not submitting details of its AGM (annual general meeting), annual returns report and other documents.

Haren Technology itself has frequently changed its garb. The company doesn't have a registered address in India. Despite its claims of being the biggest online survey company in Asia, Speak Asia's reach is limited only to India and Bangladesh. It claims to be in existence since 2006, but the website was actually launched only on 21 January 2010.

Speak Asia's tall claims have been busted by Moneylife, and also exposed by The Economic Times, Star News and Aaj Tak. SpeakAsia's panellists have been arrested in Bangladesh. Lot of articles are available online on the fraudulent nature of the company.

Unlike several other countries, MLM schemes are not banned in India. Hence, schemes like City Limousine, Stockguru and GoldQuest could escape with millions. None of the financial watchdogs in India are responsible for monitoring such schemes, so there is every chance that Speak Asia and its clones like Ram Survey and FLC Online can get away after cheating millions of their savings.

Moneylife Foundation hopes that the government recognises the danger such schemes pose and bans them outright, and also put a regulator in charge to monitor such companies and their activities.

Click here to see the representation sent by Moneylife Foundation