In a relief to the worried customers of Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank), the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday raised the cash withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 per account.

According to the central bank, this relaxation will help over 60 per cent of the depositors, who will now be able to withdraw their entire account balance. The step comes two days after the banking regulator imposed various restrictions on the co-operative bank for six months.

The RBI had allowed the depositors to withdraw only Rs 1,000 in six months, putting many in trouble ahead of the festival season.

The RBI had found certain irregularities in the bank, including under-reporting of non-performing assets.

The RBI has also superseded the board of the bank under sub sections (1) and (2) of Section 36 AAA read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and has appointed an administrator.

AGM called off

The 36th annual general meeting of PMC Bank scheduled to be held here on September 28 has been called off.

“I, Joy Thomas, MD, hereby inform you that as your PMC Bank has been put under regulatory restriction under Section 35A of Banking Regulation Act by RBI for a period of six months, the board has been superseded and administrator has been appointed. Therefore, the 36th annual general meeting of the bank proposed to be held on September 28…stands cancelled,” a notification said.

In an interview to PTI, Thomas has claimed that the lender holds enough liquidity to meet all liabilities, and every penny of the public is secure. Asserting that all its loans are fully secured, Thomas stated that one large account — HDIL — was the sole reason for the present crisis that led to the regulatory action on Tuesday.

“We have enough liquidity and back-up securities for all what we have lent. As a co-operative bank, we never do unsecured lending and our loan coverage ratio has always been 100-110 per cent,” Thomas said.