RBI imposes penalty on 8 co-op banks

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank on Monday said it has imposed penalty on eight cooperative banks, including Rs 55 lakh on The Visakhapatnam Co-operative Bank, for deficiencies in regulatory compliances.

The central bank informed about the penalties through multiple statements.

A penalty of Rs 10 lakh has been imposed on Bharat Heavy Electricals Employees' Co-operative Bank, Kailasapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu; Rs 5 lakh on The Ottapalam Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd, No.F. 1647, Ottapalam, Palakkad District, Kerala; and Rs 10 lakh on The Darussalam Co-operative Urban Bank, Hyderabad, Telangana.

In a statement, the RBI said a Rs 55 lakh penalty has been imposed on The Visakhapatnam Co-operative Bank, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh for violation of directions related to 'income recognition, asset classification, provisioning' and finance for housing schemes. The RBI has also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh each on The Nellore Co-operative Urban Bank Limited, Gandhi Nagar, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh and Kakinada Co-operative Town Bank Ltd, Kakinada, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh.

Besides, Rs 1 lakh fine has been imposed on The Kendrapara Urban Cooperative Bank, Kendrapara and Rs 5 lakh on the National Urban Co-operative Bank Limited, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

In each case, the RBI said penalties are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and are not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by them with their customers.