Chairman of the company Kashi Gurung transferred the money to its account in Nepal SBI Bank´s Ilam branch after some 2,200 clients demanded refund. Gurung also expressed commitment to transfer additional money, if required, for the refund.[break]
There are 4,300 clients of Unity in Mechi zone alone and the company has collected Rs 64.50 million from them, promising assurance coverage and lifelong free health treatment.
However, the clients sought refund after they realized that the company´s schemes have not met due legal process and there was no regulator to protect their interests.
The company, which has received District Administration Office´s (DAO) instruction to immediately refund the money to the clients, has announced that it will start refunding on Monday.
Like in the previous days, hundreds of Unity´s clients flocked to its office in the district headquarters on Saturday as well seeking refund.
As the number of cancellation started growing last Sunday, Gurung had traveled to Ilam to convince the clients about the company´s business plan which is based on binary membership model of pyramid business that experts say is faulty.
Gurung had held a special meeting with the clients on Saturday, but irked clients refused to buy his arguments that the company was operating with due legal registration and its business model is sustainable.
They started hooting and forced him to stop his address in the middle. During his address, Gurung said that the company was in the process of getting license from Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). On realizing that clients were not buying his arguments, he even promised to refund their money at their own doorsteps.
But after holding a separate meeting with them, Gurung agreed to refund the money from its office itself.
To pacify the irked clients, who picketed Unity Life Hospital where Gurung was present, Police Inspector Jagannath Gautam had announced that Gurung was under his ´control´. He also informed them that District Administration Office (DAO) has summoned Gurung for inquiry at 3 pm, following which the crowd calmed down.
Interestingly, Gurung did not appear at the DAO at the stipulated time. Officials there said that Inspector Gautam was reluctant to take him to DAO. But he finally drove Gurung to the DAO at 6:15 pm after Chief District Officer Kosh Hari Niraula repeatedly phoned him to bring Gurung to the office immediately.
During the meeting, DAO made Gurung to sign a statement, whereby he agreed to refund the money to the clients without any deduction. The company had previously announced that it would refund only 65 percent of the amount in case of refund.
Journalists threatened
On the day, some of the members of Unity issued threats to vandalize the office of Radio Nepalbani. They also threatened journalists to be ready to face any untoward consequences.
Federation of Nepali Journalists, Ilam chapter, condemned the threats. Later, Gurung apologized for threats from his members.
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