RBI imposes Rs 12.75 lakh penalty on 8 co-op banks

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 12.75 lakh on eight cooperative banks for deficiencies in regulatory compliances, the central bank said on Monday.

The RBI has slapped a penalty of Rs 4 lakh on The Nabapalli Cooperative Bank Limited, Barasat, 24 Paraganas (N), West Bengal for non-adherence to directions issued under ‘Exposure Norms and Statutory/Other Restrictions – UCBs’.

A penalty of Rs 3 lakh has been imposed on The Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank Limited, Solan, HP for contravention of certain sections of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as it failed to adhere to specific directions issued to it by RBI under Supervisory Action Framework (SAF), the RBI said.

A penalty of Rs 2 lakh has been imposed on The Manipur Women’s Cooperative Bank Limited, Paona Bazar, Imphal, Manipur for contravention of directions issued under ‘Exposure Norms and Statutory/Other Restrictions – UCBs’.

The RBI said a monetary penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on the United India Co-operative Bank Limited, Nagina, UP for contravention of certain sections of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

A penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Narsinghpur for contravention of/ non-compliance with the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014.

Penalty of Rs 50,000 has been imposed on The Amravati Merchants’ Co-operative Bank Ltd, Amravati for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI to Urban Cooperative Banks on Frauds – Classification and Reporting.

The RBI said Rs 25,000 penalty has been imposed on The Faiz Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd, Nasik for contravention with the directions to Urban Co-operative Banks on Board of Directors and Exposure Norms and Statutory/ Other Restrictions-UCBs.

Also, a penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on The Navnirman Co-operative Bank Ltd, Ahmedabad for contravention of directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and advances to directors, relatives and firms/ concerns in which they are interested’ and ‘Loans and advances to directors etc- directors as surety/guarantors- Clarification-UCBs’.

The RBI, however, added that penalties are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliances and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their respective customers.