RBI Planning to Raise Withdrawal Cap to Rs 1 Lakh: Ex-PMC Bank MD

Thomas also termed the RBI’s previous decision as “harsh” and said that it caused “harm to the depositors”.

File photo used for representational purposes.

(Photo: PTI)

A day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed the withdrawal limit for customers of the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank to Rs 10,000 per account from the previous Rs 1,000, Joy Thomas, former Managing Director (MD) of the bank, said that it may further raise the limit to Rs 1 lakh.

Addressing the media on Friday, 27 September, in Mumbai, Thomas also termed the RBI's decision as "harsh" and said that it caused "harm to the depositors".

RBI Didn’t Give Us Resolution Plan: Thomas

Charting out a brief timeline of events, Thomas said that the bank approached the RBI on 19 September asking for some time to regularise their accounts.

“The loans granted by us were not reported for the last six-seven years due to the classification of our portfolio,” Thomas said, as an explanation of the bank not reporting their loans.

Thomas further said that on 20 September, a day after PMC Bank approached RBI, the central bank's inspection officer came and on 23 September, the curbs were imposed.

"Instead of giving us a resolution plan and talking to the board, they took a decision in two days and appointed the administration," Thomas said.

On Loan Extended to HDIL

Speaking on the contentious loan extended to Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL), Thomas said they were sanctioned at the "central office level" and that the bank has "enough assets and securities" to back the advances.

"They (HDIL) have been banking with us since 1989-90 and have been repaying so far. But they haven’t been repaying in the last three years," he said.