Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank scam: Nirmala Sitharaman speaks to RBI governor, assures customers of full support

On Wednesday (September 9), Sitharaman had said at a press conference that Finance Ministry has no direct involvement in the PMC Bank case because it is a cooperative bank and RBI is the regulator for cooperative banks, including the PMC Bank.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that she has spoken to the RBI governor about the concerns of account holders of beleagured Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, stressing that the Centre was worried about the problem faced by the customers of PMC Bank.

“Spoken to governor @RBI on the #PMCBank matter. He assured me that clients & their concerns will be kept on top priority. I wish to reiterate that @FinMinIndia will ensure that customers concerns are comprehensively addressed. We understand the justified worries of the customers,” she said in a tweet.

Spoken to governor @RBI on the #PMCBank matter. He assured me that clients & their concerns will be kept on top priority. I wish to reiterate that @FinMinIndia will ensure that customers concerns are comprehensively addressed. We understand the justified worries of the customers. — Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) October 12, 2019

It may be recalled that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had placed PMC Bank under “directions” in September 2019 due to its weak financial health. As per the RBI's orders, the deposit withdrawals at PMC Bank has been capped at Rs 25,000 in six months. PMC is facing a serious liquidity crisis mainly due to its exposure to realty player HDIL, which is now bankrupt. 

On Wednesday (September 9), Sitharaman had said at a press conference that Finance Ministry has no direct involvement in the PMC Bank case because it is a cooperative bank and RBI is the regulator for PMC Bank. ‘‘Finance Ministry may have nothing to do with it (PMC bank matter) directly because RBI is the regulator. But from my side, I’ve asked the secretaries of my ministry to work with Rural Development Ministry and the Urban Development Ministry to study in detail as to what is happening," she had said.

The Finance Minister, however, had assured that secretaries from the department of financial services and economic affairs will soon meet a deputy governor of RBI soon to look into this matter and address the concerns of PMC Bank account holders. “They will discuss legislative steps needed to prevent such incidents from happening and empower the regulator better,” Sitharaman had said.