Wednesday, 15 MAY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
In an important step the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allotted Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) to 15 branches of Uttarakhand State Cooperative Bank. These banks have started operating with the facility which is provided after strict scrutiny by the RBI. Maintaining less than five per cent Non Performing Assets (NPA) is also an important eligibility criterion for the RTGS facility.
Expressing happiness, the Cooperation minister Dhan Singh Rawat said that the online banking service being strengthened is a positive development which will benefit both the banks and customers. He said that in absence of RTGS, the cooperative banks of the State used to work under RTGS of some private banks and for it they had to keep Rs 100 crore in the current account of the private bank. The cooperative banks will now keep this money with them and will earn interest by investing it. The minister said that soon RTGS for the district cooperative banks will also be sought and till then these banks will be sub members of the RTGS of the State cooperative banks.
He said that with regular monitoring the State Cooperative Bank has been successful in bringing down the NPA to less than five percent which played a key role in awarding RTGS.
The cooperative banks also started a campaign for NPA collection which was successful. The gross NPA of State Cooperative Bank and 10 district cooperative banks was Rs 603 crore on March 31, 2023 which on March 31, 2024 was reduced to Rs 538 crore. The net NPA of the banks on March 31 last year was Rs 221 crore which was Rs 156 crore on March 31 this year.
The minister said that the State government has taken many initiatives to strengthen the cooperative banks which has made them more competitive and equivalent to the nationalised banks.
