5-and-a-half years after the Reserve Financial institution of India imposed a moratorium on Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Financial institution Niyamita (SGRSBN) in Basavanagudi, the affected depositors have intensified their demand for enhanced deposit insurance coverage protection. The victims, in a gathering held on Friday, have sought a rise from the present Rs 5-lakh restrict imposed by the RBI beneath the Deposit Insurance coverage and Credit score Assure Company (DICGC).
Harish V, joint secretary of the United Discussion board of Depositors — a gaggle of SGRSBN depositors who’re preventing to get again their cash — acknowledged that the federal government is doing little for his or her returns.
In 2023, the Karnataka authorities ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe to look into the case the place Rs 2,500 crore was allegedly misappropriated by the financial institution administration. To date, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has hooked up belongings value Rs 159 crore as a part of its probe into the alleged rip-off.
Nonetheless, Harish stated, “A Proper To Info (RTI) question revealed that CBI had by no means taken the case to analyze. Hundreds of them (depositors) are nonetheless in bother and are unable to guide their lives.”
He identified that even after 5 years there was no try to get better the cash by the defaulters and even by these from the administration that led to the collapse of the financial institution. The directors appointed by the federal government have modified however nothing has yielded any outcomes, he added.
Based on the financial institution knowledge accessed by The Indian Specific, 31,376 people had invested as much as Rs 5 lakh, totaling Rs 84.57 crore, and 5,853 particular person accounts had greater than Rs 5 lakh, totalling as much as Rs 1,350 crore.
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Out of the 45,000 depositors, most of them received the Rs 5 lakh insurance coverage quantity from Deposit Insurance coverage and Credit score Assure Company (DICGC). Nonetheless, over 15,000 depositors who’ve deposited greater than Rs 6 lakh are but to get the whole aid quantity.
G Ok Gururaj, one other joint secretary, stated that the present DICGC insurance coverage restrict of ₹5 lakh supplies insufficient safety for depositors who’ve misplaced their financial savings, operating into lakhs and crores of rupees.
“A forensic report submitted to RBI has been handed to the administration for evaluation. Preliminary estimates recommend losses of ₹1,944 crore, although depositors have expressed willingness to forgo almost Rs 650 crore in accrued curiosity if their principal quantities will be recovered,” he added.
Greater than 60 of the depositors, primarily aged residents, have died after the financial institution fell into controversy, based on the discussion board.
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Among the many depositors who attended the assembly was 76-year-old Usha Devi, a retired BBMP worker. Her husband died six months in the past.
Vasudev, an energetic member of the discussion board and a depositor, shared how his brother was just lately denied hospital admission resulting from lack of funds. He additionally talks in regards to the plight of aged depositors whose fundamental medical requirements aren’t met. He stated, “It is a humanitarian concern right here; it’s greater than the cash. Most of us are annoyed.”
The RBI imposed withdrawal restrictions on SGRSBN in January 2020.
(Bhoomika Roy Banerjee and Mehak Singh Interns with The Indian Specific)