September 23 completes one year of the moratorium imposed by RBI on the Punjab Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) restricting transactions and cash withdrawals by the depositors.
Till date, the fate of the bank continues to hang in limbo with no headway made by the administrator to sell the acquired assets of the accused and pay off the 9 lakh depositors in 137 branches. Neither the RBI nor the finance ministry have shown any interest in pumping in the shortfall liquidity amount by roping in the State Bank of India (SBI) as was done in the case of the revival of Yes Bank, in a record time of just 12 days.
The recent amendment to the Banking Regulation Act was undertaken by the Centre to protect depositors from future repeats of banking frauds, by bringing all co-operative banks under the supervision of the RBI. Whether this amendment will also help to restart the PMC bank and pay depositors their locked up money is the moot question. This is the only hope left for the beleagured and distraught depositors.
AF NAZARETH, Alto-Porvorim
