Mumbai, Sep 24
Customers of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank on Tuesday took to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred the bank from carrying out a majority of its routine business transactions for a six-month period.
As per the apex bank's directions, depositors cannot withdraw more than Rs 1,000 from their savings/current/other deposit accounts, which led to major chaos outside the PMC branches in Mumbai and other parts of India.
"@RBIeverytime bank fraud happens people who are not involved in it i.e common people get punished for the only reason that they have trusted the bank n government #PMC @narendramodi, @Dev_Fadnavis y this punishment to us," " tweeted one user.
"What kind of a joke is this @RBI when you allow depositors to withdraw Rs 1000/- from #PMC bank after freezing the bank assets. Might as well seal the treasury," wrote another user.
"@PMC_Bank says they are under 35A of BR by the @RBI and the thing is I have all my savings stuck in that bank and they say I cannot withdraw my money now.. What do I do.. People here have all their savings in the bank and the bank says they can't help," customer Avinash Sharma tweeted.
Some Twitter users even made memes to highlight the precarious situation of the customers.
In one of the memes, actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is seen answering calls from customers of PMC Bank, with "Sacred Games" written on the still.
In his inimitable style that became popular in the web series, Siddiqui is shown as saying he was living on the Moon when customers of the bank asked about his whereabouts.
"Crisis at #PMC bank likely just tip of the iceberg. Why did @RBI wait till it got to crisis point before intervening? And how many other cooperative banks in similar dire straits waiting for the RBI to intervene? The poor are disproportionately affected by a crisis in this sector," economist Rupa Subramanya said in a tweet.
Described as a multi-state cooperative banking entity founded in 1984 from a small room in Mumbai, the PMC Bank has grown to 137 branches - in Maharashtra (103), Delhi (6), Karnataka (15), Goa (6), Gujarat (5), and Madhya Pradesh (2).
As per the RBI sanctions, the PMC Bank is debarred for six months from granting, renewing any loans and advances, make any investments, incur any liability, including borrowal of funds or accept fresh deposits, among others, without the prior written approval from the RBI.
