Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank customers will not face any loss, reassures Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has repeatedly assured her that it will keep the interest of PMC Bank customers in mind and resolve the ongoing crisis as soon as possible.

Reassuring the customers of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that the Centre will ensure that the customers of the bank do not face any loss. Sitharaman said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has repeatedly assured her that it will keep the interest of customers in mind and resolve the ongoing crisis as soon as possible. 

The finance minister noted that the Enforcement Directorate has already registered cases in connection with this matter and several properties have been attached. She added that the government is committed to help the customers and it has asked the RBI to take steps in this regard.

"The RBI repeatedly has assured me, even today the RBI Governor has assured me that he'll keep the interest of customers in mind and at the earliest try to resolve it as he goes on," Sitharaman said at a press conference.

#WATCH Delhi: FM Nirmala Sitharaman answers a question on Punjab&Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank,says "...The RBI repeatedly has assured me, even today the Guv has assured me that he'll keep the interest of customers in mind&at the earliest try to resolve it as he goes on..." pic.twitter.com/aAb1YpGFlS — ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2019

In a related development, Mumbai's Esplanade Court on Monday sent former PMC chairman Waryam Singh and HDIL promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan to police custody till October 16 in connection with the bank fraud case.

The Mumbai Police had nabbed the Wadhawan duo last week. According to the police, PMC bank officials gave loans to HDIL between 2008 and 2019 despite no repayment of the previous loans. Joy Thomas, the former managing director of PMC Bank, is already in police custody.

Meanwhile, PMC bank depositors staged a protest outside the court premises, demanding reimbursement of their money from the bank. "Our main issue is that the money of all PMC Bank depositors should be returned. According to reports, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hinted that the PMC bank will be revived or merged with some other bank," the news agency quoted one of the depositors as saying.