Those smaller UCBs which parked their money with the erstwhile Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank continue to suffer and Chairman of one of such banks talked to the Indian Cooperative narrating his tale of woes.
Left with no option, Maharashtra based Vaishya Sahakari Bank is planning to knock the door of the high court against the Reserve Bank of India direction related to making provisions on the term deposits placed with the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank which has been merged with Unity Small Finance Bank.
Talking to the Indian Cooperative the bank’s Chairman Aniruddha Shetye who accompanied the Vice-Chairman Adv. Sandesh Narkar said, “Many urban cooperative banks of Maharashtra especially small UCBs are facing a lot of challenges in making provisions every year against the term deposit placed with PMC Bank. Due to this, many banks of Maharashtra incurred losses in the 2022-23 FY”.
“Our bank is small with a business mix of around Rs 250 crore and earning not much of a profit. We had invested Rs 3 crore as a term deposit in 2019 with the PMC Bank. Due to the fallout of the PMC Bank, it became Non-Performing Assets but now it is not non-performing exposure investment, as we are receiving annual dividend on it and as per original circular released on 20th April 2020, there is no need to make provision on the portion of deposits converted into Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Shares (PNCPS)”, the chairman added.
He further added, if we make provision on the deposits kept with PMC Bank then we will suffer a loss & will come under Supervisory Action Framework (SAF) by RBI. We request the RBI officials to re-think the matter and give justice to small cooperative banks. There are many banks in Maharashtra and other states, which are grappling with the same problem.
Elaborating further, the bank Vice-Chairman said the amended Banking Regulation Act disallows the director from remaining on the bank’s board for eight years which is injustice as far as the cooperative sector is concerned. “If MLA and MPs have a tenure of five years, why are directors of cooperative banks for only four years”, he asked?
Highlighting the bank’s future targets, he said, we are eying to achieve a figure of Rs 300 crore. We are also planning to apply for schedule status and branches. We are also focusing on enhancing income from insurance business and technology products.