The depositors of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) are planning to move to Bombay High Court for getting early refund of their money and for merging the crisis-ridden bank with a running bank.
Earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had granted in-principle approval to Centrum Financial Services Limited to set up a small finance bank, thus paving way for the takeover of the beleaguered PMC Bank, 18 months after it was placed under restrictions.
The depositors of PMC Bank are planning to move the High Court with a petition against RBI and the board of PMC Bank, MoneyControl quoted Manjeet Sabharwal, PMC Bank Depositors Action Team coordinator in Mumbai, as saying.
The depositors are also likely to seek merger of PMC Bank with any of the running public or private sector bank for a quick resolution, Sabharwal said.
Also read: RBI allows Centrum to set up small finance bank; PMC Bank takeover
"We are planning to move the Bombay High Court within the next few days and are currently preparing the petition in consultation with our lawyers. We are in no position to wait for another four to six months for deposit refund. It has been 20 months since the crisis began. How long can we wait?" he was quoted as saying.
In September 2019, the RBI had superseded the board of PMC and placed it under regulatory restrictions, including cap on withdrawals by its customers, after detection of certain financial irregularities, hiding and misreporting of loans given to real estate developer HDIL. The restrictions have been extended several time since then.
As of March 31, 2020, PMC Bank's total deposits stood at Rs 10,727.12 crore and total advances at Rs 4,472.78 crore. Gross non-performance assets of the bank stood at Rs 3,518.89 crore at end-March, 2020.
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