Refund portal launched for investors of Sahara Group cooperative societies

The “genuine” depositors of the four cooperative societies of the Sahara Group — Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Limited, Saharayan Universal Multipurpose Society Limited, Hamara India Credit Cooperative Society Limited and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited — can submit their claims on the portal.

Shah said the complete data of all the four societies is available online for applying on this portal. All necessary provisions have been made in this process so that there is no scope for any kind of manipulation or injustice to any genuine investor, he said.

The minister said the launch of the portal is important because the concerns of people whose hard-earned money is stuck in these four co-operative societies were not taken up. In such cases, generally multi-agency seizure happens but no agency thinks about the investor, he said.

Shah said the Ministry of Cooperation has invited all the stakeholders, including SEBI, ED, Income Tax, Serious Fraud Investigation Organisation (SFIO), CBI and law officers, and discussed with them about making a system in which they can see beyond their claims, and think about small investors.

He said all the agencies together filed a petition in the Supreme Court and it gave a historic decision to form a committee under the chairmanship of a former SC judge to start the payment process in a transparent manner.

“This is the just beginning of the refund of Rs 5,000 crore to investors,” Shah said, adding that after the completion of Rs 5,000 crore payment, another appeal will be made in the Supreme Court to return the amount to the remaining investors.

He said that investors can register online through the facility of common service centres. There are two main conditions related to the process: first, the investor’s Aadhaar card must be linked to their mobile number, and second, the Aadhaar card must be linked to their bank account. Shah assured the investors that their money will be deposited into their bank accounts within 45 days.

In its order on March 29, 2023, the Supreme Court had directed that Rs 5,000 crore be transferred out of the “Sahara-SEBI Refund Account” to the CRCS for disbursement against the legitimate dues of genuine depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies. The process of disbursement is being supervised and monitored by Justice R Subhash Reddy, former judge of the Supreme Court.

According to the ministry, the genuine depositors of these societies have to submit their claims by filling online application forms available on the portal and upload requisite documents.

“The depositors will be verified through Aadhaar card to ensure their identity. After the verification of their claims and uploaded documents by the appointed societies, auditors, and OSDs, the payment to the genuine depositors will be credited in their bank account within 45 days after filing their online claims, subject to fund availability and they will be intimated the status through SMS/portal,” the ministry said in a statement.