[ Happy Deepavali - 2019.]

[ What happens when a Co-Op Bank with over 100 branches in few states goes out of Cash.]

The Bank is in one of the Financial Capital of a country.

The Reserve Bank of India has clamped down on the operations of the crisis-hit

Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank but, nearly a month on, depositors say 

their troubles have only worsened.

Some have not been able to pay the school fees of their children, while others 

are finding it difficult to meet medical expenses.

Many fear they might lose their lifetime earnings kept in savings accounts or 

in the form of fixed deposits.

M.A.Chaudhary, a businessman, said people like him were not being able to either 

pay salaries to employees or pay taxes and even electricity bills as cheques had 

bounced.

Three depositors have so far lost their lives since an alleged Rs 4,355-crore 

scam came to light at the Mumbai-headquartered lender.
It’s been nearly a month since curbs have been imposed on withdrawal of deposits 

from PMC Bank in Maharashtra. Harish Malkani (69) and his wife Rani Malkani, 

retired civil servants who live in Mumbai, have deposited all their savings in 

the bank and need the interest for daily expenses
It’s been nearly a month since curbs have been imposed on withdrawal of deposits 

from PMC Bank in Maharashtra. Harish Malkani (69) and his wife Rani Malkani, 

retired civil servants who live in Mumbai, have deposited all their savings in 

the bank and need the interest for daily expenses (PTI)

The bank, established in 1984 in Sion, central Mumbai, has branches in six states 

but most of them are concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi.

On September 24, the bank’s managing director, Joy Thomas, had sent a text 

message to depositors about the RBI’s regulatory restrictions capping withdrawals 

up to Rs 1,000 for six months.

Thomas has since been arrested, along with the promoters of the Housing Development 

Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan, in an alleged fraud case.

The RBI raised the cap to Rs 10,000 and then to Rs 40,000 earlier this month 

following protests from accountholders.

But depositors who have deposited lakhs and, in some cases, even crores of rupees in 

the bank said it was too small an amount to even meet monthly expenses.

Tek Chand, a retired government employee and resident of Janakpuri, west Delhi, 

said his family has deposits of over Rs 18 lakh in the bank’s Tilak Nagar branch. 

His wife, the 71-year-old added, needs to go for dialysis sessions that cost him 

Rs 10,000 a month and half his monthly pension goes into it. “I am losing my 

patience and money with every passing day,” he said.

Anuradha Sen, 61, a resident of Malviya Nagar in south Delhi, had deposited 

Rs 15 lakh in the bank. “My livelihood is dependent on the interest from the 

deposit,” she said, adding that she was upset with the government for not doing 

enough to help the account holders get back their hard-earned money. “I am annoyed. 

We gave them a thumping majority not to put us in this crisis,” she said.

Malviya Nagar resident Ravindra Kumar Jha, 40, an interior designer by profession, 

said he was struggling to pay the school fees of his two children and manage the 

household expenses.
Allwyn Dsouza, 100 per cent blind for the past 20 years, depends on the interest 

from his deposit in PMC Bank for looking after himself and his 85-year-old mother 

Tresea (top)

Jha, who complained that he had developed blood pressure problems after the alleged 

irregularities in the bank surfaced, said he had Rs 32 lakh in his account but 

couldn’t access the money.

“I have two school-going kids. I need to manage their fees and household expenses. 

Recently, I met with an accident and I have not recovered yet. I never had a blood 

pressure problem but now, with each passing day, it is becoming difficult to survive

in Delhi. Sometimes I feel like committing suicide,” he said.

“I had planned to start a new business this Navratri. Unfortunately, I deposited 

the 

surplus cash of Rs 4 lakh that I had kept for emergency.”

Chaudhary, the businessman, said he had deposits of Rs 35 lakh in a savings account 

and Rs 16 lakh in his current account but was not being able to access the money. 

“A PMC Bank cheque issued to pay electricity bills bounced because no one would 

process it. I don’t have money even to pay my quarterly GST.”

For some depositors, the crisis has shattered their trust in the banking system. 

Gurjyot Singh Keer, 25, was eight when he first opened an account in the bank’s 

Mulund west branch in northwest Mumbai under the Baal Bachat Yojana. The lender has 

been central to the Keers and the family members have deposits of over Rs 3 crore

“I was in awe of the bank since my childhood. Our family always believed in cash and

I fought with them saying depositing money in banks is good. Today, I am fighting 

for the same money stuck in the bank,” Keer, who runs a coaching institute, said.

There has been a domino effect, he added, explaining that the whole “circle of money”

had stopped.

Students from the Mulund area, where many families have accounts in the bank, cannot 

pay their fees, Keer said, while he himself has not been able to pay the teachers. 
Tags

PMC Bank Financial crisis - Reserve Bank of India (RBI)