Crisis at another co-op bank

Surat-based Century Co-op bank suspended from clearing house

Yet another co-operative bank in Gujarat was faced with a crisis on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of India suspended the Surat-based Century Co-operative Bank from clearing house operations as it was unable to meet the clearing requirements.

As word about the same spread around, a large number of depositors and account holders gathered outside the bank's branch at Ambaji Market, Ring Road, in the evening. Fearing that the depositors might vent their fury on them, the bank staff locked the bank from inside.

The branch manager Ramesh Rajput, said: "The bank has been suspended from the clearing house operations yesterday. We were supposed to deposit Rs. 1.85 crore with the clearing house on account of advance clearing. We managed to deposit Rs. 1.65 crore before 2:30 pm, but we got delayed by about 30 minutes in depositing the remaining Rs. 20 lakh."

"The bank has been suspended from the clearing house, but I do not know exactly for what period. Things will become clear by tomorrow," Rajput said.

However, according to reliable industry sources, The Century Co-operative Bank Ltd. has been suspended from clearing house under Section 13 (B) of Clearing House Rules.

"The Century Bank was unable to meet yesterday's clearing and hence it has been suspended from the clearing house, for an indefinite period. All operations of the bank will remain suspended during this period. The clearing house people will hold talks with the bank authorities and if they are convinced, the bank will be allowed to start functioning once again," this source said.

Despite several attempts, bank chairman Hari Malpani was not available for comment.