PMC Bank depositors on hunger strike in Mumbai, seek relief from RBI

Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank depositors on Thursday sat on a token starvation strike close to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters in Fort. They are looking for a decision from RBI, permitting them speedy entry to their cash.

Depositors have stated that the banks which went into moratoriums after PMC Bank had been again in operational mode virtually instantly, the most recent being the Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

“They (RBI) are pushing us beyond limits but still we are trying to restrain ourselves with peaceful and democratic means to showcase our pathetic state. We don’t know when the police will be ordered to pick us up and throw us in jails. But that will not dilute our resolve to fight for our rights,” stated Nikhil Vora, key member of the PMC Bank Depositors Association.

Another despositor, Anita Lohiya, stated, “Through this token hunger strike, we are expressing our ordeal. If the central bank still fails to resolve the issue, we will sit on an indefinite hunger strike.”

Hundred of hundreds of depositors of the PMC Bank have been awaiting aid from RBI for 14 months now. On September 23, 2019, RBI had barred depositors from withdrawing cash after it got here to mild that PMC Bank’s prime administration had allegedly sanctioned round 73% of the financial institution’s loans to Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) group unlawfully and hid the agency’s non-performing property.

The RBI regulator had first capped the withdrawal restrict at Rs1,000. Later, depositors had been allowed to withdraw as much as Rs50,000 in a six-month interval, which was additional elevated to Rs1 lakh until December 22, 2020.

The depositors, with over 37% senior residents, stated they’re dealing with a monetary disaster. According to the depositors, the RBI administrator knowledgeable them that the paperwork of the property mortgaged with the financial institution usually are not so as and therefore, their auctioning has been delayed, owing to which, the central financial institution is unable to supply any aid to the depositors.

Depositors stated their monetary stress has worsened owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Since the time the restrictions were imposed on the bank, 95 people (depositors or their kin) have died, of which four died by suicide,” Vora stated.

“This is so frustrating for us. The finance minister said that now cooperatives banks are at par with commercial banks and the RBI has the power to save them but it’s been 14 months since PMC Bank depositors are facing problems. Passing the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act in the Parliament was just a waste of time,” stated Lohiya.

Mumbai police’s financial offences wing has arrested fifteen folks within the case, together with HDIL promotors Rakesh and Sarang Wadhwan, ex-chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas. Police have additionally filed three cost sheets within the case, detailing the function of all of the accused.