BENGALURU: Are co-operative banks and the Reserve Bank of India pulling wool over the eyes the of public over the actual worth of scrapped notes stashed in co-operative banks? Considering the extent of alleged irregularities by co-op banks while depositing old notes soon after demonetisation, questions are being raised over the decision of RBI to accept these old notes.
According to the Department of Co-operation, the sum that was to be exchanged from the currency chests of co-operative banks in the state was `473 crore. However, soon after demonetisation, in January, officials of Intelligence and Criminal Investigation of Income-Tax Department had said they had identified 900 transactions over `1 crore, where PAN numbers were not furnished by the depositors. The number was for Bengaluru alone, with officials suspecting that more such transactions had occurred in different parts of the state.
There were no subsequent briefings about the steps taken by the I-T department against such deposits, nor any details of the people who had bypassed RBI rule of mandatory PAN by making deposits of less than `50,000 in multiple accounts. Moreover, these banks were also accused of using wrong PAN numbers to deposit cash, with the I-T department alleging that fraud was widespread. As a result, the declaration of just `473 crore in cash chests of co-operative banks in the state has raised many eyebrows.
Speaking to Express, R Ravichandran, Director (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation), IT Department, said the co-operative banks have been allowed the cash stashed in their currency chests only after a thorough verification by National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development. “If we find that they’ve cash which is un-taxed, we will tax them,” he said. He said that the figure of `473 crore was arrived after RBI collected data from all the banks.
The decision however, has not gone well with many, with several persons alleging that the move was made to help politicians. A twitter user Aishwarya (@aish17aer) wrote: Is it true that @RBI has extended deadline for cooperative banks to deposit old notes? Is this to help corrupt POLITICIANS? This is serious as common people were given just 1 month, why coop banks are given 7 months more??
Co-op banks to seek compensation
After RBI’s decision to allow co-operative banks to deposit denominated notes, the banks are set to seek compensation from the Centre for the losses suffered by them. M K Aiyappa, Registrar of Cooperative Societies in Karnataka told Express that the losses were to the tune of `30 crore. “Many members of co-operative societies had deposited money in the banks soon after demonetisation. Since, neither the money was exchanged nor loaned to other borrowers, banks are suffering a loss,” he said. The banks have to give interest for seven months to their customers. Hence, they will seek compensation, he added.