Depositors Involved in Legal Cases Will Not Receive Immediate Refunds

May 11, Kathmandu – Depositors involved in legal cases related to troubled cooperatives will not be able to immediately withdraw their savings. The Troubled Cooperative Management Committee has decided not to refund depositors until the court issues a final verdict in the ongoing cases. The committee has prepared new procedures to systematically manage refunds to depositors and loan recoveries from these troubled cooperatives. Additionally, to address difficulties in loan recovery, the committee has fixed the reference interest rate at 16 percent to avoid unfair interest charges.

Clarifying the collateral valuation process for auctions, the committee has ensured that transactions are conducted according to market value. The committee has formulated and implemented the “Savings Refund, Loan Recovery, and Asset Management Procedures, 2083 (Nepali calendar).” An official confirmed that the guidelines approved on Tuesday have now taken effect. The procedures have been designed to promptly reconcile the assets and liabilities of troubled cooperatives.

According to the procedures, the committee will set deadlines and publish notices allowing depositors to claim their savings through an online system. Deposit claims must include scanned copies of required information and documents. The procedure also stipulates that an individual may not submit multiple claims to the same institution.

When refunding savings, depositors with amounts of NPR 10,000 or less will receive their claims in full as per their request. For depositors claiming more than NPR 10,000, refunds will be made proportionally based on the available funds in the relevant troubled cooperative’s reserve. This system of parallel refund distribution has been implemented by the committee to ensure fairness.