It is no fault of theirs if the management of a bank does goof-ups and the case goes to courts which are severely time-consuming. But that is what exactly is happening with the poor depositors of the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank. Reserve Bank of India took control of the bank after it was discovered that the bank had concealed non-performing loans. The owners of the realty company which received the loans were arrested but that hasn’t come as comfort for any of the PMC Bank account holders.
Earlier this year, an 82-year-old customer had appealed to the Minister of Finance for help. In a message posted on Twitter, he had said that he was ready to donate kidney and eyes if anyone could help arrange funds to treat his daughter who had a brain tumour. He said that he had savings in his account, more than 25 lakhs, which he couldn’t use as withdrawals were capped at Rs.50,000 from each account as authorities were investigating fraud.
The bank has raised the withdrawal limit now to Rs.1,00,000 per depositor. The customer said that he borrowed from friends and relatives but pointed out that if he could have had access to his own funds then he wouldn’t have had to beg and borrow.
RBI took control of PMC Bank last September after it was accused of fraudulent actions and the top officials of the bank were arrested. The withdrawal cap has left most of the 9,00,000 depositors in agony. Some are struggling to meet their expenses and others are finding it difficult to clear the loans that they have taken.
When asked about when PMC Bank’s problems will be solved, an administrator appointed by RBI said that the recovery is an ongoing process and it takes time in actual realisations due to legal steps and hurdles.
