New licensing regime for urban co-operative banks in the pipeline

Report of committee headed by ex-RBI deputy governor may be submitted in a fortnight

A brand new licensing regime for urban co-operative banks (UCBs) is on the cards for financially sound and well-managed co-operative credit societies. This comes 17 years after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stopped issuing them, with the number of UCBs now at 1,539, down from 1,926 in 2003-04.

A rethink on constituting a board of management (BoM) for UCBs with deposits of over Rs 100 crore is also in the works, along with the framing of modalities for a national umbrella organisation.

These moves will constitute a part of a comprehensive review of regulations and plot the flight path for UCBs