In a major development, the Reserve Bank of India released RTGS to 15 branches of Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank and this is being seen as an important step towards strengthening the online banking system of cooperative banks.
Commenting on this development, Uttarakhand Cooperation Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said this online banking system for cooperative banks is a development that will benefit both the banks and their customers, he said.
“Cooperative banks are availing the RTGS facility from private banks but now they can directly do the same. The 10 District Cooperative Banks Ltd. will become sub-members of RTGS of State Cooperative Bank”, he informed.
“RTGS will allow real-time settlement of transactions, thereby increasing the efficiency and reliability of online banking services”, he added.
Besides, the cooperative banks of the state recovered around 64 crore and the state cooperative bank got success in reducing its NPA to less than 5 percent, he further said.
The gross NPA and net NPA of state cooperative banks and DCCBs stood at Rs 538 crore and Rs 156 crore as of 31st March 2024 respectively, the minister said.
The minister also said, “The steps are being taken to strengthen cooperative banks, including putting them on par with nationalized banks. One of the major areas in which cooperative banks have strengthened is the area of online banking, the minister underlined.
The district cooperative banks of Uttarakhand performed well in the 2023-24 FY and earned a gross and net profit of Rs 232.69 crore and Rs 115.15 crore in the said fiscal year respectively.
Earlier i.e. in 2022-23, the gross profit stood at Rs 180.94 crore and net profit was of Rs 68.12 crore. The figures were shared by Uttarakhand Cooperation Minister Dr Dhan Singh Rawat.
The lowest net profit earned by the Haridwar District Central Cooperative Bank, is to the tune of Rs 3.28 crore.
Interestingly, at present there is no board in state cooperative banks as well as district cooperative banks of the state and it is being controlled by the officials of the cooperative department.