PMC bank account holders gather after RBI imposes restrictions

The Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank) account holders have gathered on Thursday outside its Sion branch in Mumbai, demanding to remove the restrictions,according to ANI. The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday imposed operational restrictions for six months. PMC Bank is not allowed to give out any fresh loans. PMC Bank has a network of 137 branches. It is amongst the top-10 Co-Operative Banks in the country.

Widespread panic

According to reports, RBI's decision has led to widespread panic and chaos among the account holders. Over 900 people had gathered outside the JTB Branch in Mumbai alone. Reports suggest that every bank received a notification two to three months ago. 

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PMC admits HDIL main reason for crisis

PMC had admitted on Wednesday, that one large account-HDIL was the sole reason for the present crisis, as per PTI. The bank's former managing director Joy Thomas had allayed fears stating all accounts were safe and fully-secured. He said the bank has cash liquidity of around Rs 4,000 crore in the form of SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) and CRR or cash reserve ratio. But, he admitted that the problem arose because of under-reporting of NPAs from the HDIL account.

"All other loans are more than fully-secured and there is no need for any customer to panic," Thomas told PTI.  He added, "We have enough liquidity and back-up securities for all what we have lent. As a cooperative bank, we never do unsecured lending and our loan coverage ratio has always been 100-110 percent," Thomas said.  He added that the slum redevelopment company, which has landed in cash crunch, has already gone to the bankruptcy now, has been delaying payments for the past few years.

RBI caps PMC bank withdrawal limits

The RBI on Tuesday, imposed operational restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank), resulting in chaos outside its branches in Mumbai, according to PTI. As per the RBI directions to PMC Bank, withdrawals have been capped at Rs 1,000 per account and the bank is not allowed to make any fresh loans. The RBI has not specified the reason for this move. The restrictions will be in force for six months, the RBI said.

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(WITH ANI INPUTS)