In response to a question whether the Government has received representations from various quarters expressing concerns over the RBI regulations on Cooperative Bodies; Union Cooperation Minister admitted that such representations have been received by the Ministry.
Amit Shah, the Minister said the representations received from various quarters including National Cooperative Federations such as NAFSCOB and NAFCUB have highlighted certain difficulties being faced by Cooperative bodies in relation to existing regulations of RBI.
Shah further assured that the Government is regularly in touch with concerned authorities to resolve such issues within the overall ambit of the legislative framework.
Indian Cooperative has gathered that NAFCUB President Jyotindra Mehta had met the Union Co-op Secretary Gyanesh Kumar on the issue in the past and has submitted his list of demands. Kumar is believed to be mediating between RBI and Nafcub on these issues.
According to the latest update available with Indian Cooperative, a meeting of RBI officials and Nafcub representatives would take place in the presence of the Union Minister Shah to have the final resolution of the issues.
Some of the long-standing demands of UCBs include abolition of sub-section (4) of section 80P so that the deduction available u/s 80P (2) prior to A.Y. 2008-09 is restored to UCBs and they are enabled to effectively serve the large strata of population who are of limited means.
Nafcub demands Inclusion of deposits with non-scheduled cooperative banks for eligibility under Sec.80(c)(xxi) of the Income Tax Act 1961. Of the 1539 urban cooperative banks, only 54 are scheduled banks. The non-scheduled urban cooperative banks are excluded from this benefit and they are disadvantaged on account of this discrimination as compared to Scheduled UCBs and Nationalized Banks.
They want the clause (xxi) be amended to i) include the words “and a cooperative bank” after “scheduled bank”; ii) add in the explanation “and a cooperative bank means a State Cooperative Bank, a Central Cooperative Bank and a Primary Cooperative Bank, as defined in Sec.5 (as modified by Sec.56(AACS) (cci) of the Banking Regulation Act 1949”
