The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday informed that it has imposed monetary penalties on nine cooperative banks from six states for non-compliance with various provisions. The bank regulator has fined two banks each from Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, and one bank each from Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand.
From Odisha, two banks that have been fined are Berhampur Cooperative Urban Bank and Kendrapara Urban Co-operative Bank. Berhampur Cooperative Urban Bank has been fined Rs 3.10 lakh while the penalty for Kendrapara bank is Rs 50,000.
The RBI said that the Berhampur bank had failed to comply with its directions on prudential inter-bank (gross) exposure norms and prudential inter-bank counter-party limit, allot Unique Customer Identification Codes (UCIC) to its individual customers and submit the correct certificate regarding transfer to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund.
The RBI has imposed Rs 1 lakh fine on Jamshedpur Urban Cooperative Bank, Jharkhand. The central bank said that the inspection report of the bank revealed a violation of specific directions issued to the bank by RBI under SAF (Supervisory Action Framework).
From Madhya Pradesh, two banks that have been fined are Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit and Krishna Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd (Bhopal). The RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank while the Krishna Mercantile has been fined Rs 50,000.
Chhattisgarh’s Renuka Nagarik Sahakari Bank Maryadit has been slapped with a fine of Rs 1 lakh for not complying with the directions on prudential inter-bank (Gross) exposure limit, not carrying out a periodic review of risk categorization of its customers, and not having a robust system to detect suspicious transactions.
From Gujarat, the RBI has slapped Rs 2 lakh penalty on Santrampur Urban Co-operative Bank and Rs 25,000 fine on Nawanagar Co-operative Bank Ltd. The central bank said that Santrampur Urban Co-operative Bank had not maintained the minimum Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR).
A penalty of Rs 2.5 lakh has been imposed on Maharashtra’s Osmanabad Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd. The RBI said the bank in question had not carried out the review of risk categorisation of accounts and the updation of KYC of its customers as per prescribed periodicity.
The central bank also said that these actions were based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and were not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their customers.
