In a bid to give relief to the depositors, RBI relaxed the withdrawal limit of deposit accounts on Thursday. The apex bank has allowed the depositors to withdraw a sum not exceeding Rs 10,000.
With the above relaxation, more than 60% of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance. This was decided when a preliminary assessment of the bank’s latest depositor and liquidity profile as furnished by the Administrator was put up before the RBI.
“The above relaxation has been granted with a view to reducing the hardship of the depositors. The Reserve Bank is closely monitoring the position and shall continue to take further steps as are necessary to safeguard the interest of the depositors of the bank”, said RBI.
Meanwhile, the other terms and conditions of the said Directive shall remain unchanged.
It bears recall that Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra, a Multi-State Urban Cooperative Bank has been placed under All-Inclusive Directions under sub-section (1) of Section 35A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with effect from close of business on September 23, 2019 vide Directive DCBS.CO.BSD-1/D-1/12.22.183/19-20 dated September 23, 2019, in the interest of depositor protection.
The Directions were necessitated on account of major financial irregularities, failure of internal control and systems of the bank and wrong/under-reporting of its exposures under various Off-site Surveillance reports to RBI that came to the Reserve Bank’s notice recently.
Meanwhile, media reports name Waryam Singh, Chairman of PMC Bank for the sorry state of affairs at PMC Bank. Singh’s association with many companies led by Wadhwans has brought PMC to such a pass, they claim.
News website Money Life says “There was a close nexus between the HDIL group and the Bank through Waryam Singh, the chairman of PMC Bank. He was director of several companies associated with HDIL group and the Wadhwans.”
Data from Zaubacorp.com shows Singh has served as director of several HDIL group companies for several years, quotes the website.
The website says Waryam Singh’s association with the Wadhwans dates back to 1997 and he has been on the board of a number of companies floated by Wadhwans including Sri Adhikari Brothers News & Television Network Ltd.
PMC Bank’s managing director has, however, claimed that Singh had resigned from the HDIL group in 2015. It bears recall that following the death of Charanjit Singh Chadha in 2015, the PMC Bank board elected Waryam Singh as the new chairman.