Mumbai / RBI increases withdrawal limit for PMC Bank customers to ₹50,000

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday increased the withdrawal limit for customers of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank to ₹50,000 and said that this is inclusive of the ₹40,000 allowed earlier. The central bank allowed PMC Bank's depositors to withdraw from the bank’s own ATMs within the prescribed limit of ₹50,000. This is expected to ease the process of withdrawals, the central bank said in a press release.

“The Reserve Bank of India, after reviewing the bank’s liquidity position and its ability to pay its depositors has decided to further enhance the limit for withdrawal to ₹50,00, inclusive of ₹40,000 allowed earlier. With the above relaxation, more than 78% of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance," said RBI.

The RBI added it is closely monitoring the developments and shall continue to take necessary steps in the interest of the depositors of the bank.

On 23 Septmber, RBI barred the bank from carrying out any operations for the next six months and asked it not to grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment or incur any liability, including borrowing of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits. It had initially capped the deposit withdrawal at ₹1,000 per account, which was relaxed to ₹10,000 in two days and then further increased to ₹25,000 and later to ₹40,000. The central bank's action came after it found certain irregularities in the bank, including under-reporting of non-performing assets (NPAs) and large deposit withdrawals.

Several protests have been held by the depositors since September.

At least seven depositors have died since the alleged scam came to light.