Primary cooperative credit societies, known as cooperative banks, are no longer bustling with local customers who deposit cash or withdraw money or pledge gold ornaments for getting loan to cater to pressing fiscal needs. The branches of the cooperative banks today look deserted following the restrictions on transactions in the wake of the demonetisation.
The cooperative bank branches are now a shadow of what they were before the demonetisation. Now they cannot allow their customers to withdraw cash beyond the permissible limit of Rs.2,000 a day. Managers of the branches say gold loans have fewer takers because people come to the bank with their ornaments to get some bulk amount and not just Rs.2,000.
Jithesh R., a resident of Edachovva here, looked desperate as he sat at the Thazhe Chovva branch of the bank, waiting in vain to see if his application for a gold loan could materialise. “This is for the third day today that I am visiting this branch to get a gold loan of Rs.60,000,” he said adding that the bank authorities explained their helplessness as they were also as cash-strapped like him.
A mess
C.M. Radhika, who is a customer at the bank’s Elayavur branch here, has a similar story to narrate. She said that she had come to the bank to pledge gold ornaments to take a small loan. “It is a real mess because I can’t get the loan amount, nor can I withdraw cash from my mother’s account in the branch,” she said. A medical representative here, she said the difficulty in withdrawing cash from the cooperative bank is a major blow to her normal financial transactions.
The worst-hit are deposit or payment collectors attached to branches of cooperative banks as their daily collection of money from local households and shops has come to a standstill. “Our sole livelihood has been badly affected now,” said M.P. Bindu, deposit and payment collector at the bank’s Thazhe Chovva branch.
She added that her income by way of 3 per cent commission has plummeted.
A pall of gloom lingers in the cooperative bank branches. “Shortage of cash has crippled our business, including our deposits and advances,” said M.O. Karthyayani, manager of Elayavur branch of the cooperative bank. “Our bank’s surplus cash deposit in the District Cooperative Bank is Rs.33 crore, but we can withdraw only Rs.24,000 a week,” said B. Ajith, the bank society’s assistant secretary.
