Urban co-op bank permits frozen, new policy to be drawn up

Concerned over the falling health of urban co-operative banks, the Reserve Bank of India has frozen issuance of fresh licences till a compre...

Concerned over the falling health of urban co-operative banks, the Reserve Bank of India has frozen issuance of fresh licences till a comprehensive policy on UCBs, including an appropriate legal and regulatory authority, is formulated.

‘‘To make the UCB sector strong, it is proposed to consider issuance of free licences only after a comprehensive policy on UCBs including an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the sector, is put in place and a policy for improving the financial health of the sector is formulated,’’ RBI said in its annual policy.

After the liberalisation of licencing norms in May 1993 upto June 2001, 823 licences were issued and it was observed that 31 pc of the new UCBs became financially unsound within a short period. Cooperative banking sector in the country is plagued with directors giving loans their own relatives and friends.

An RBI committee has said it should be made mandatory for all proposed UCBs to come into being through a process of graduation from a co-operative credit society of strength and verifiable track record. On reconstruction of UCBs, the bank has proposed to consider only such schemes of reconstruction which envisage re-capitalisation by stakeholders including the shareholders, co-operative institutions and government, to the extent of achieving the prescribed capital norms.

Amid India’s push to extradite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, British officials visit Tihar jail to inspect conditions

British officials inspect Tihar jail as India pushes to extradite Mallya, Nirav Modi

Cities6 hr ago

A team from the British CPS visited Tihar jail to inspect inmate conditions and security, amidst India's efforts to extradite fugitives Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Sanjay Bhandari from the UK. They discussed setting up a specialized enclosure for high-profile prisoners and addressed concerns about violence within the jail. As of 2024, India has made 178 extradition requests to various countries.

View all shorts

Live Blog