15 February,2025 06:15 PM IST | Mumbai | Katyayani Kapoor
Pic/Ashish Raje
As the RBI's restrictions on the New India Cooperative Bank entered its second day, angry customers gathered outside multiple bank branches in parts of Mumbai, grappling with uncertainty over their finances are trying to seek answers to their questions.
Mid-day.com spoke to a few customers outside the bank's branch in Malad East and Kandivali West.
People from various age groups, primarily from middle-class and lower-income backgrounds, thronged the branches, frustrated by the lack of prior communication about the sudden RBI restrictions.
One of the struggling customers voiced their anger, saying, "How can bank deduct our money without asking? The Reserve Bank should be responsible for everything as it monitors them. I have only one account. Where should I go now? What should I do? I will get only 5 lakh after a month - there is no guarantee whether you will give it or not. The remaining 5 lakh will be taken by some politicians? Whose money is it? It is our money, isn't it? What will they do with that money?"
ALSO READ
Senior citizens, who had trusted the bank for years, were among the most affected. One elderly customer shared his distress said, ""We deposited money in the bank on Thursday, and it got shut on Friday. Nobody cautioned us to not do so. The bank accepted the money and they are now refusing to return. And I have heard that they will pay in 90 days, then what will happen to us? I have an account in this bank. How will I survive?"
We have an account here since the bank started, and we had full faith in it, but now people have broken our trust. We are senior citizens, so what should we do now? So we request the government and the bank that we should get our money as soon as possible, whatever is there or whatever is in the account, so we can survive," he added,
Many customers expressed concerns over the safety of their bank lockers as well. A depositor struggling for answers said, "The bank people say that nothing is going to happen right now. Only the locker will be emptied. So, if you have a locker, we will give you a token. We don't have a locker and are not very rich to keep everything in a locker."
Even those handling society finances were left in shock. A society secretary, who had entrusted the bank with essential funds, shared his concern, saying, "I am the secretary of the society, so all our society funds, FDs, are deposited in this bank. Our society's watchman and staff used to come and withdraw from here since it was close by. This bank has been with us since we joined, but suddenly such a problem comes up; it's very shocking... but we can't judge what is going on internally. We are also surprised. My whole family's accounts are here."
One young man, who had his entire family's savings in the bank, explained, "My entire family's account is here. I have two savings accounts, one current account, and FDs as well...we have had accounts here for the last 40 years. This happened suddenly and we did not even know about it. Right now, they do not have any answer. They are only allowing us to operate the locker and are not allowing us to operate anything else. Now let's see what happens next and what guidelines the RBI gives."
The uncertainty surrounding when and how customers would get their money back was a recurring concern. A middle-class woman worried about the delays, saying, "They are saying that they will pay after three months. If they pay after three months, what will we do? Who will take the guarantee? We are not getting any answers right now."
Another customer, echoing similar fears, added, "The bank has just told us that we should wait for a few days, that is till next week. Some guidelines will come, some forms will come, and affirmed that we will be given a chance to withdraw, but we will have to wait because the RBI is conducting an audit."
A few customers acknowledged that the government's deposit insurance scheme could offer some relief but pointed out the lack of communication, which led to widespread panic.
"So basically, what they have said is in 90 days ideally, up to Rs 5 lakh amount, because of insurance, the majority of people will be getting their money. So that is going to be the major problem solver because 90 percent of the people are having below Rs 5 lakh amount as deposits. That is a major relief for people, but unfortunately, this was not communicated to the majority of account holders, and that's the reason for the panic," one customer explained.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) abruptly halted the operations of the New Co-operative Bank through an overnight order on Thursday.
By Friday morning, scores of depositors rushed to several branches across Mumbai, only to be informed by bank managers that they could not withdraw their money until further directives from the central bank.
The situation has left customers frustrated and anxious, especially as the bank reported losses exceeding â¹20 crores in the financial year 2023-24. Adding to their woes, the former General Manager faces fraud allegations, but it is the depositors who remain the hardest hit, struggling with uncertainty over their hard-earned savings.
