RBI restrictions on New India Co-op Bank: Angry customer asks questions

As the RBIs 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 questionsMiddaycom spoke to a few customers outside the bankrsquos branch in Malad East and Kandivali WestPeople from various age groups primarily from middleclass and lowerincome backgrounds thronged the branches frustrated by the lack of prior communication about the sudden RBI restrictionsOne of the struggling customers voiced their anger saying ldquoHow 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 monthmdashthere 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 isnrsquot it What will they do with that moneyrdquoSenior citizens who had trusted the bank for years were among the most affected One elderly customer shared his distress said ldquoWe 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 surviverdquoWe 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 surviverdquo he addedMany customers expressed concerns over the safety of their bank lockers as well A depositor struggling for answers said ldquoThe 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 dont have a locker and are not very rich to keep everything in a lockerEven those handling society finances were left in shock A society secretary who had entrusted the bank with essential funds shared his concern saying ldquoI am the secretary of the society so all our society funds FDs are deposited in this bank Our societys 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 its very shocking but we cant judge what is going on internally We are also surprised My whole familyrsquos accounts are hererdquoOne young man who had his entire familyrsquos savings in the bank explained ldquoMy entire familys account is here I have two savings accounts one current account and FDs as wellwe 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 lets see what happens next and what guidelines the RBI givesThe uncertainty surrounding when and how customers would get their money back was a recurring concern A middleclass woman worried about the delays saying ldquoThey 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 nowrdquoAnother customer echoing similar fears added ldquoThe 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 auditrdquoA few customers acknowledged that the governmentrsquos deposit insurance scheme could offer some relief but pointed out the lack of communication which led to widespread panicldquoSo 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 thats the reason for the panicrdquo one customer explainedThe Reserve Bank of India RBI abruptly halted the operations of the New Cooperative Bank through an overnight order on ThursdayBy 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 bankThe situation has left customers frustrated and anxious especially as the bank reported losses exceeding 20 crores in the financial year 202324 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 hardearned savings