The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties amounting to Rs 8 lakh on three cooperative banks for various regulatory violations.
The penalized banks are Zila Sahkari Bank Ltd., Mirzapur; Kulithalai Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Tamil Nadu; and Bapatla Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Andhra Pradesh.
Zila Sahkari Bank Ltd., Mirzapur, faced a penalty of Rs 5 lakh for contravening the provisions of Section 26A, read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Kulithalai Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Tamil Nadu, was fined Rs 1 lakh for non-compliance with RBI directions issued under the ‘Supervisory Action Framework (SAF)’ and guidelines on the ‘Issue and Regulation of Share Capital and Securities – Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks.’
Meanwhile, Bapatla Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Andhra Pradesh, was penalized Rs 2 lakh for failing to adhere to RBI directives on ‘Loans and Advances to Directors, Their Relatives, and Interested Firms,’ ‘Exposure Norms and Statutory/Other Restrictions – UCBs,’ and ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’ norms.
The RBI emphasized that these penalties are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and do not question the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their customers.