The Reserve Bank of India on Saturday increased the withdrawal limit for the scam-hit PMC Bank’s depositors to Rs 1 lakh from 50,000 earlier.

Simultaneously, the central bank also extended the regulatory restrictions on the cooperative bank by another six months till December 22, a press statement issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

Apart from Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) Limited, the RBI, in separate statements said the withdrawal limits for depositors of four other cooperative banks under regulatory restrictions have also been increased. These banks include Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha, Bengaluru, and Kolhapur-based Youth Development Cooperative Bank Limited, Kerala Mercantile Co-operative Bank Limited, Kozhikode; and Hindu Cooperative Bank Limited, Pathankot.

On September 23, last year, the RBI had placed regulatory curbs on the PMC Bank, Mumbai after it came across certain financial irregularities, hiding and misreporting of loans given to real estate developer HDIL.

While the central bank continues engaging with various stake holders to explore the possibility of a resolution of the bank, it has decided to extend the restrictions for additional six months.

The Reserve Bank also said it was closely monitoring the position and will continue to take further steps as are necessary to safeguard the interest of the depositors of the bank.

The withdrawal limit was last enhanced to Rs 50,000 per depositor on November 5, 2019. The restrictions were last extended upto June 22, 2020 in March.

“With the above relaxation, more than 84% of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance.” RBI stated.

As on 23 September, 2019 (date of imposition of RBI directions), total depositors of the bank were 9,15,775.

However, the process has been affected due to the lockdown on account of COVID 19 and the continuing uncertainty around the pandemic.

Further, the extent of the negative net worth of the bank, and the legal processes involved in recovery of bad debts also pose challenges/limitations in resolution of the bank, it said.

Regarding Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha, the RBI said the withdrawal limit has been enhanced to Rs 1 lakh per depositor, inclusive of Rs 35,000 allowed earlier.

With the latest relaxation, more than 54 per cent of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance, it added.

In case of Kerala Mercantile Co-operative Bank Limited, Kozhikode, the withdrawal limit has been increased to Rs 50,000 (inclusive of Rs 2,000), RBI said, and added now more than 89 per cent of the depositors will be able to withdraw their entire account balance.

The withdrawal limit in case of Hindu Cooperative Bank Limited Pathankot, has been increased to Rs 50,000, inclusive of Rs 25,000 earlier. Now, more than 79 per cent of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance.

For the depositors of Kolhapur-based Youth Development Cooperative Bank Limited, the withdrawal limit increased to Rs 20,000 per depositor, inclusive of Rs 5,000 allowed earlier.