Case Brief
What Happened
RBI imposed a monetary penalty of ₹5.00 lakh on The Viramgam Mercantile Co-operative Bank Ltd., Viramgam, Dist. Ahmedabad, Gujarat, by order dated August 22, 2023. The penalty was imposed under Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, after RBI’s statutory inspection and review of related reports found multiple compliance breaches. These included loans sanctioned where relatives of the bank’s directors acted as surety/guarantor, breach of prudential inter-bank counterparty exposure limits, and deposit rates offered above SBI’s rates in violation of specific RBI directions issued under the Supervisory Action Framework.