The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 lakh on The Purasawalkam Co-operative Bank Limited, Tamil Nadu, for violating certain regulatory directions. The penalty, dated August 19, 2025, pertains to non-compliance with RBI’s guidelines on Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) and directions issued under the Supervisory Action Framework (SAF). The action has been taken under Section 47A(1)(c), read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The penalty follows RBI’s inspection of the bank’s financial position as of March 31, 2024. Based on supervisory findings, the central bank issued a notice asking why a penalty should not be imposed. After reviewing the bank’s written response and oral submissions, RBI concluded that violations had occurred.

The charges upheld included:

Refunding share capital to members despite the bank’s CRAR being below the regulatory minimum.

Failing to reduce the single-borrower exposure limit for fresh loans and advances by 50%, as required under SAF guidelines.

RBI clarified that the penalty is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and does not question the validity of transactions or agreements entered into by the bank with its customers. The imposition of the penalty is also without prejudice to any other supervisory or enforcement action RBI may initiate.