PANAJI
Amid a rush by depositors to withdraw their money, the Tirumalla Tirupati Multistate Co-operative Credit Society Ltd, currently under government scrutiny, on Friday appealed to investors not to panic, assuring them that their deposits are safe.
The management of the credit society, led by chairman Gurmeet Singh Bhambrah, met Co-operation Minister Subhash Shirodkar and requested withdrawal of the show-cause notices issued to its branches and revocation of the suspension of its No Objection Certificate (NOC) to operate in Goa.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Bhambrah attributed the lapses flagged by the authorities to procedural shortcomings and shortage of manpower, and said the Minister was assured that such omissions would not recur. “We have completed the formalities and submitted most of the required documents to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. There are a few documents pending, which will be provided at the earliest,” he said.
Bhambrah said the society has requested the government to revoke the NOC following submission of documents. “I don’t think there should be any issue in revoking the NOC,” he added.
Appealing to depositors not to panic, the chairman said the society operates on trust. “There is no need to panic. Depositors will not face any issue. We have kept our counters open for those who wish to withdraw their money,” he said, recalling that even during the Covid-19 period the society ensured doorstep delivery of funds to depositors.
Earlier this week, the State government withdrew the NOC granted to the credit society following an inspection that reportedly revealed persistent non-compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. These included failure to submit mandatory audited financial statements, lack of cooperation during statutory inspections, violation of NOC conditions and non-response to notices issued by the Registrar despite due service.
Minister Shirodkar said the society had been issued several notices seeking details on the number of depositors, total deposits and investments, loans, non-performing assets (NPAs) and other assets. “However, they failed to respond. As such, we had no data on the functioning of the society,” he said.
He added that the documents submitted would be scrutinised by the Registrar, who has been asked to submit a report by next week. “They have been given time to furnish the remaining information. A decision on revocation of the NOC will be taken based on the Registrar’s report,” the Minister said.
