Mumbai: PMC bank depositors hold protest outside Esplanade Court

Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank depositors on Monday held a protest, outside the city's Esplanade Court, demanding reimbursement of their money from the bank.

"Our main issue is that the money of all PMC Bank depositors should be returned. According to reports, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hinted that the PMC bank will be revived or merged with some other bank," Sudhir, a depositor said.

"My expectation as a depositor from the Finance Minister is that she should take onus for this situation. I want to get an assurance in writing from the government that my money is safe," Mahesh Datlani, another depositor said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had earlier met customers of PMC Bank on October 10 and heard their woes.

"Finance Ministry may have nothing to do with it (PMC bank matter) directly because RBI is the regulator. But from my side, I've asked the secretaries of my ministry to work with the Rural Development Ministry and Urban Development Ministry to study in detail as to what is happening," she had said.

Last month, the RBI restricted the activities of the PMC Bank for six months and asked it to not grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment or incur any liability, including borrowing of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on October 3 stipulated the withdrawal limit for the depositors of Punjab And Maharashtra Cooperative Bank Ltd to Rs 25,000.

PMC Bank is a multi-state scheduled urban cooperative bank with operations in Maharashtra, New Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. With a network of 137 branches, it ranks among the top 10 cooperative banks in the country.