The Jalpaiguri Central Cooperative Bank head office. Picture by Biplab Basak

Sept. 3: Thousands of people who have accounts and deposits at the Jalpaiguri Central Cooperative Bank called up the officials today asking if their money was secure after the Reserve Bank of India published a notice.

The notice issued by the Urban Banks Department of the RBI, Calcutta, in a Bengali newspaper said the Jalpaiguri Cooperative Bank Limited didn’t have the required RBI licence. Depositors got confused with the name and turned up at the Jalpaiguri Central Cooperative Bank branches wanting to withdraw their money. Sources in the sector, however, said there is no bank called Jalpaiguri Cooperative Bank Limited.

The notice issued in the name of M.M. Majhi, a general manager of RBI, said seven banks in different districts of the state and Calcutta were running without RBI license. “It has come to RBI’s notice that the following organisations are using the word ‘bank’. The general public is hereby informed that none of these banks have permission to do business from RBI and have not been granted license under BR Act 1949 (AACS),” it said. “The general public is hereby being informed and they are being alerted that anybody transacting with these organisations will do so at his own risk. If deposits are made in these organisations, they will not be insured by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guaranty Corporation (DICGC).”

Sourav Chakraborty, chairman of Jalpaiguri Central Cooperative Bank, said: “There is no such bank. We have written to RBI and spoken to them about issuing a corrigendum and clarifying that our bank is running with proper license.” He furnished the license issued to the bank on March 15, 2010, by the RBI and a letter from the DICGC which said the deposits in the bank are insured by the enterprise.

According to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, it is mandatory for banks to have licenses issued by RBI.

“The notice has affected the bank’s reputation. We want the RBI to make necessary rectification otherwise, we will launch a dharna in front of the RBI office in Calcutta,” said Chakraborty, also the Jalpaiguri district Trinamul president.

The bank was established in 1949 and has a total deposit of around Rs 203 crore. It has an annual business of around Rs 30 crore, sources said. There are around 20 lakh depositors who have accounts in 17 branches across Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts. The bank’s headquarters is on Merchant Road in Jalpaiguri town.

Bijoy Roy Basunia from Mainaguri said: “I went to withdraw my deposits today. The employees told me they have the license, which eased my tension.”

An RBI official said: “We are looking into the matter. It seems there is a difference in the name of the bank mentioned in the notice and the bank where there was confusion today.”