Pawnbrokers Act

“pawnbroker” includes every person who carries on the business of taking goods and chattels in pawn;

“pawner” means a person delivering an article for pawn to a pawnbroker;

“pledge” means an article pawned with a pawnbroker;

“Registrar” means the Registrar of Pawnbrokers appointed under section 7;

“shop” includes a dwelling-house and warehouse or other place of business or place where business is transacted;

“unfinished goods or materials” includes any goods of any manufacture or of any part or branch of any manufacture, either mixed or separate, or any materials whatever plainly intended for the composing or manufacturing of any goods, after the goods or materials are put into a state or course of manufacture or into a state for any process or operation to be performed thereupon or therewith, and before the goods or materials are completed or finished for the purpose of wear or consumption.

Any person who —

Nothing in this Act shall extend to any loan of money exceeding $100 and secured by a pawn or pledge, if the rate of interest does not exceed 10% per annum and if no further or other profit or advantage is taken or agreed for on the loan, or shall extend to prevent a pawnbroker under this Act from taking in pawn goods or chattels exceeding in value the sum of $1,000 or lending thereon a sum exceeding that amount.

For the purposes of this Act, anything done or omitted to be done by the employee or agent of a pawnbroker, in the course of or in relation to the business of the pawnbroker, shall be deemed to be done or omitted, as the case may be, by the pawnbroker.

Anything by this Act authorised to be done by a pawnbroker may be done by his employee or agent.

The Minister may appoint a Registrar of Pawnbrokers and such number of Assistant Registrars of Pawnbrokers and other officers as he may consider necessary or expedient for the purposes of this Act.

An Assistant Registrar shall have and may exercise all the powers conferred on the Registrar by this Act subject to such limitations as the Registrar sees fit to impose.

Every pawnbroker shall annually take out from the Registrar a licence for carrying on his business for which there shall be charged and paid before the grant of the licence such fee as the Minister may prescribe. Application for a licence shall be made in accordance with such rules as may be made under section 50.

Licences shall be subject to such conditions, if any, as may be imposed by the Registrar in addition to those prescribed in section 9.

A separate licence shall be taken out and paid for by a pawnbroker for each pawnbroker’s shop kept by him.

Every licence shall be dated on the day on which it is granted and shall determine on 31st December of each year.

Any person who acts as a pawnbroker or holds himself out as carrying on the business of pawnbroking without having in force a valid licence granted by the Registrar shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, shall in addition be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months.

No licence shall be granted by the Registrar to a pawnbroker in respect of any premises unless the Registrar is satisfied —

The Registrar may, in his discretion, refuse to grant or renew a licence in respect of any applicant or any premises without assigning any reason.

The Registrar may cancel a licence and forfeit the whole or such part of the money deposited with the Accountant-General under section 9(1)(e) as the Registrar may think fit if he is satisfied that —

The Registrar shall, before cancelling a licence and forfeiting any money under subsection (1), give the licensee concerned notice in writing of his intention to do so specifying a date, not less than 14 days after the date of the notice, upon which the cancellation and forfeiture shall be made and calling upon the licensee to show cause to the Registrar why his licence should not be cancelled and why his money should not be forfeited.

The Registrar, on receiving any representation from a licensee, may, instead of cancelling a licence and forfeiting any money under subsection (1), impose a penalty not exceeding $20,000 on the licensee and may recover the penalty from any cash deposit or other form of security given by the licensee to the Registrar.

Any cancellation of a licence shall not affect the duties and liabilities of the licensee as a pawnbroker under this Act.

Upon the expiration, cancellation or determination of any licence, the Registrar may, if he thinks fit in the interest of pawners, order the pawnbroker to deliver up to any police officer or any officer named in the order all pledges and books and accounts kept by him in connection with the business of pawnbroking.

Any officer referred to in subsection (1) may at any time enter any shop or premises of the pawnbroker and take possession of all pledges, books and accounts and remove them to such place as the Registrar may determine.

The Registrar shall make arrangements for any pledge taken under subsection (2) to be redeemed or, if the period of redemption of the pledge has expired, for the sale of the pledge and the payment of the surplus thereof in the like manner as if the pledge were held by the pawnbroker.

Upon the redemption or the sale of the unredeemed pledges under subsection (3), the Registrar shall, upon payment by the pawnbroker of all expenses incurred by him, hand over to the pawnbroker an account of all sums received from the pawners as payment of moneys borrowed, including interest thereon, and all books and accounts taken under subsection (2).[12A

Every pawnbroker shall —

Every pawnbroker shall make such monthly returns as may be prescribed by rules made under section 50.

Any pawnbroker who fails in any respect to comply with this section shall be guilty of an offence.[13

A pawnbroker may take profit on a loan on a pledge at a rate not exceeding that specified in the Second Schedule.

A pawnbroker may demand and take the charges specified in Second Schedule.

A pawnbroker shall not, in respect of a loan on a pledge take any profit or demand or take any charge or sum whatever other than those specified in the Second Schedule.

A pawnbroker shall, if required at the time of redemption, give a receipt for the amount of loan and profit paid to him.

The Minister may by order amend the rate of profits and charges specified in the Second Schedule.

All orders made under subsection (5) shall be published in the Gazette and shall be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication and if a resolution is passed pursuant to a motion notice whereof has been given for a sitting day not later than the first available sitting day of Parliament next after the expiry of 3 months from the date when the orders are so presented annulling the orders or any part thereof as from a specified date, the orders or such part thereof, as the case may be, shall thereupon become void as from that date but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder or to the making of new orders.[15

A pledge pawned for any sum exceeding $50 shall, when disposed of by the pawnbroker, be disposed of by sale by an auctioneer licensed in that behalf and not otherwise.

The sale by auction under subsection (1) shall be conducted in such manner as may be prescribed.

Where any pledge is not sold by auction in the manner prescribed under subsection (2), the Registrar shall make arrangements for the sale of the pledge by another auction or tender or in such other manner as he thinks fit.

A pawnbroker may bid for and purchase at a sale by auction made under this Act a pledge pawned with him; and on such purchase he shall be deemed the absolute owner of the pledge purchased.

The Minister may, by writing under his hand, license fit persons to conduct sales of forfeited pledges for such periods as in the licence are specified, and may revoke any such licence without assigning any reason.[19

Where a pledge pawned for any sum exceeding $50 is sold for more than the reserve price, being the amount of the loan and interest due, the pawnbroker shall, within 10 days after the sale, inform the pawner by registered post of the amount of surplus realised at the sale.

A pawnbroker who fails to include the interest on the loan in the reserve price of any pledge at the time of sale shall be deemed to have waived the interest and shall not recover the interest from the pawner.

No costs or charges of the sale shall be deducted from the amount of surplus without the prior approval in writing of the Registrar.

The pawnbroker shall send to the Registrar, on the first day of every calendar month, a list, written in the English language, showing the result of the sales of the pledges during the preceding calendar month, in Form 3 set out in the First Schedule or in such other form as is prescribed, and the Registrar shall keep such list for 3 months in a place easily accessible to the public.[22

A pawnbroker shall, on demand, pay the surplus under section 23 to the holder of the pawn ticket where the demand is made within 4 months after the sale.

If no demand for the surplus is made within 4 months after the sale under subsection (1), the pawnbroker shall pay the surplus to the Accountant-General within 14 days after the expiration of the period of 4 months.

Any payment under subsection (2) shall be accompanied by a statement containing such particulars as the Registrar may require.

Where a claim is made to the Accountant-General for any surplus paid under subsection (2), the Accountant-General shall, upon receiving a certification from the Registrar that the claimant is entitled to the surplus, authorise payment thereof to be made to him.

Any unclaimed surplus shall, on the expiry of 6 years from the date of payment thereof, be paid by the Accountant-General into the Consolidated Fund.

Any pawnbroker who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.[22A

If a person entitled and offering to redeem a pledge shows, to the satisfaction of a Magistrate’s Court, that the pledge has become or has been rendered of less value than it was at the time of the pawning thereof by or through the default or neglect or wilful misbehaviour of the pawnbroker, the Court may, if it thinks fit, award a reasonable compensation to the owner of the pledge in respect of the damage, and the amount awarded shall be deducted from the amount payable to the pawnbroker or shall be paid by the pawnbroker, as the case may require, in such manner as the Court directs, except that no suit shall thereafter be brought by the owner in any civil court in respect of the same matter.

When a pawnbroker has been directed to pay a sum of money to the owner of a pledge under this section, the sum so directed to be paid shall be recoverable as a fine.[27

This section shall have effect for the protection of owners of articles pawned and of pawners not having their pawn tickets to produce.

Any person claiming to be the owner of a pledge but not holding the pawn ticket, or any person claiming to be entitled to hold a pawn ticket but alleging that the pawn ticket has been lost, mislaid, destroyed or stolen or fraudulently obtained from him, may apply to the pawnbroker for a printed form of declaration, which the pawnbroker shall deliver to him upon receipt of the charge specified in the Second Schedule.

The printed form of declaration referred to in subsection (2) shall contain sufficient particulars of the pawn, including a description of the pledge, the date it was pawned, the pledge number or the lost pawn ticket number so as to enable the pawner to make a declaration before a person authorised to administer oaths or a notary public.

If the applicant delivers back to the pawnbroker the declaration duly made before a person authorised to administer oaths or a notary public by the applicant, the applicant shall thereupon have as between him and the pawnbroker all the same rights and remedies as if he produced the pawn ticket:Provided that such a declaration shall not be effectual for that purpose unless it is duly made and delivered back to the pawnbroker not later than on the third day after the day on which the form is delivered to the applicant by the pawnbroker.

The pawnbroker is hereby indemnified for not delivering the pledge to any person until the expiration of the period aforesaid.

The pawnbroker is hereby further indemnified for delivering the pledge or otherwise acting in conformity with the declaration, unless he has actual or constructive notice that the declaration is fraudulent or is false in any material particular.

Declarations under this section may be in Form 1 or 2 set out in the First Schedule, as the nature of the case requires.

Every declaration under this section shall be deemed to be a declaration within the meaning of sections 199 and 200 of the Penal Code [Cap. 224].

The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend, add to or revoke the whole or any part of the First Schedule.[28

In each of the following cases:

The court may also adjourn the proceedings for the attendance of the pawnbroker, and may summon the pawnbroker to attend at the adjourned hearing, and if, after hearing the pawnbroker, the court is of opinion that the pawnbroker has not exercised due care in taking in pawn any stolen property, the court may order the pawnbroker to pay a fine not exceeding $2,000.[29

Any person who knowingly and designedly pawns with a pawnbroker anything being the property of another person, the pawner not being employed or authorised by the owner thereof to pawn the property, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.

In addition to any fine imposed under subsection (1), the court may order any person convicted under that subsection to pay by way of compensation to the owner any sum not exceeding the full value of the pledge as ascertained by the court, such sum to be levied and taken in the same manner as a fine.[32

Any person who —

In every such case, and also in any case where, on an article being offered in pawn to a pawnbroker he reasonably suspects that it has been stolen or otherwise illegally or clandestinely obtained, the pawnbroker may seize and detain the person and the article, or either of them and shall deliver the person and the article or either of them, as the case may be, as soon as possible into the custody of a police officer, who shall as soon as possible convey the person, if so detained, before a Magistrate, to be dealt with according to law.[33

If any person, under suspicious circumstances, offers any article in pawn to a pawnbroker, or, without having any colour of title by law to redeem a pledge, attempts to redeem it, and the pawnbroker has reason to suspect such want of title, the pawnbroker shall inquire of the person how he came by the article or the pawn ticket, as the case may be.

If the person is not able or refuses to give a satisfactory account of himself or of the means by which he became possessed of the article or pawn ticket, or wilfully gives any false information concerning the article or pawn ticket, or as to his name or address or as to the name or place of abode of the owner of the article, or if there is any other reason to suspect that the article or pawn ticket have been stolen or otherwise illegally or clandestinely obtained, the pawnbroker may seize and detain the person offering the article or pawn ticket, and shall deliver him with the article or pawn ticket into the custody of a police officer.[35

If the owner of any linen or apparel or unfinished goods or materials entrusted to any person as aforesaid and unlawfully pawned with a pawnbroker, or the owner of any other article unlawfully pawned with the pawnbroker, the last-mentioned owner having on oath satisfied a Magistrate’s Court that his goods have been unlawfully obtained, taken or withheld from him, makes out on oath before a Magistrate’s Court that there is good cause to suspect that a pawnbroker has taken in pawn the linen, apparel, goods, materials or articles aforesaid without the privity or authority of the owner, and makes appear to the satisfaction of the Magistrate’s Court probable grounds for such suspicion, the Magistrate’s Court may issue a warrant for searching, within the hours of business, the shop of the pawnbroker.

If the pawnbroker, on request by a police officer authorised by the warrant to make the search, refuses to open the shop or permit it to be searched, a police officer may break it open within the hours of business and search as he thinks fit therein for the linen, apparel, goods, materials or articles aforesaid, doing no wilful damage, and if any pawnbroker or other person opposes or hinders the search, he shall be guilty of an offence.

If on the search any linen, apparel, goods, materials or articles aforesaid is or are found and the property of the owner thereof is made out to the satisfaction of a Magistrate’s Court, the Court shall cause the same forthwith to be restored to the owner thereof.[37

The books required by this Act to be kept by a pawnbroker shall be produced by him for examination at any time during business hours on demand by any Justice of the Peace or by any police officer who by this subsection is authorised to enter at any time during business hours any pawnbroker’s shop without warrant to search for and examine the books and to take extracts therefrom and copies thereof.

Any pawnbroker who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of an offence.[42

Information as to property lost, stolen or otherwise fraudulently disposed of shall be given by the police, as soon as possible after the loss or fraud, to all pawnbrokers, with list and descriptions of the property.

If any property answering such lists and descriptions is in the possession of any pawnbroker or is thereafter offered to or shown to any pawnbroker, the pawnbroker shall, without unnecessary delay, give information to that effect at the nearest police station or to any police officer, with the name, address and identity card number of the person in whose possession the property was seen, and in default thereof he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

The pawnbroker in such a case may also detain the person offering or showing the property until the arrival of the police.[43

Any police officer having reason to believe that a person in or loitering about a pawnbroker’s shop under suspicious circumstances has with him any article dishonestly obtained may detain that person and require him to produce any article he may have with him.

If any article is produced which the police officer has reason to suspect to have been unlawfully obtained, the police officer may take or cause to be taken the person and the article to the nearest police station.

If any person so required to produce such article refuses to be searched, the police officer may take him or cause him to be taken before a Justice of the Peace, who if he sees fit may search the person or order him to be searched, and if any such article is found may detain him with the article so found to be dealt with according to law.[45

The Registrar may, in his discretion, compound any such offence under this Act or any rules made thereunder as may be prescribed as being an offence which may be compounded by collecting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding $1,000.

The Minister may make rules prescribing the offences which may be compounded.[46A

The Minister may make rules prescribing —

Any person who contravenes any rule made under this Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.[47