Rupee Bank licence gets extension till Feb-end

PUNE: The administrators of the Rupee Cooperative Bank on Friday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had extended its banking licence till February-end, with its pending merger with the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) still under consideration.
The MSCB and the Rupee Bank made a joint, mutual proposal to merge to the RBI in January. However, the RBI asked the MSCB and the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to re-submit the proposals in line with the relevant RBI circulars and compliance requirements.“The revised proposal for the merger has already been submitted,” Sudhir Pandit, administrator of Rupee Bank, said.
The state government’s enquiry into the bank’s finances and allegations of irregularities and lack of due diligence against its former directors, under section 88 of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, was also pending. “The hearing of all appeals has been completed, but a the decision has been awaited for some time now. But, it has been delayed because of the pandemic,” Sudhir added.
In a statement, the administrator said the bank had now managed to earn an operating profit in each of the last four years, now standing at Rs53.19 crore, while managing to refund around Rs361 crore to over 91,000 depositors. The cumulative losses now add up to nearly Rs632 crore, the statement said.
The bank also recovered over Rs330 crore from defaulters. Its outstanding loans/advances are now at Rs297 crore.