RBI Fines Bihar State Co-op Bank Rs 60.20 Lakh For Multiple Shortcomings
The Bihar State Co-operative Bank Patna has been fined Rs 60.20 lakh by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for various shortcomings and violations. Following a statutory inspection conducted by Nabard after FY20, it was discovered that the bank had failed to implement robust software to identify and report suspicious transactions and had not submitted statutory returns within the specified timelines.
Additionally, the bank did not submit off-site surveillance system returns on time, failed to provide data to all four credit information companies, and neglected to establish a customer service committee of the board, among other infractions. The RBI issued a notice to the bank and imposed the penalty after considering its response.
The Jowai Cooperative Urban Bank in Meghalaya has also been levied a monetary penalty of Rs 6 lakh for non-compliance with regulatory requirements. The bank was found to have exceeded inter-bank exposure limits and failed to conduct periodic reviews of risk categorization for its accounts, as indicated in an inspection report for FY22.
Following the issuance of a notice, the RBI decided to impose the monetary penalty after reviewing the bank's response.
Similarly, the Telangana State Cooperative Apex Bank in Hyderabad has been fined Rs 2 lakh for its failure to transfer eligible amounts to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the prescribed timeframe in FY20, according to the RBI.
Furthermore, the Co-operative Bank of Rajkot in Rajkot, Gujarat has incurred a monetary penalty of Rs 10 lakh for contravening directives regarding reporting unauthorised transactions by customers, the use of names appearing in the certificate of registration and the license for primary (Urban) co-operative banks (UCBs) and changes in monitoring and reporting mechanisms for frauds in UCBs.
In addition, Chennai-based Equitas Holdings and Mukand Global Finance, located in the same city, have voluntarily surrendered their non-banking finance company licenses that were previously granted to them.
