187 Cooperatives in Kathmandu Metropolitan Fail to Return Over NPR 821 Crore to More Than 10,000 Depositors

More than 10,000 depositors from 187 cooperatives under Kathmandu Metropolitan City have yet to receive over NPR 821 crore in refunds, recent figures reveal. The metropolitan office has facilitated refund settlements for 58 of these cooperatives, while recommending four be declared problematic, department head Dhruv Kafle reported. July 27, Kathmandu.

Thousands of depositors within Kathmandu Metropolitan City remain unable to reclaim their savings. As of the end of Ashad month, approximately 10,234 depositors from 187 cooperatives had not retrieved their bank deposits, causing widespread concern. According to metropolitan data, the total refundable amount demanded by these depositors stands at NPR 821,582,600.

Kushalbh KC, president of the National Campaign for Cooperative Depositor Protection, attributes the delays to cooperative administrators hiding assets and shirking responsibility, urging the government to take stringent action. He stated, “The Cooperative Act grants full authority to three levels of government, but due to lack of coordination between the upper and lower levels, declaring cooperatives as problematic has been difficult.”

Dhruv Kafle, head of the cooperative department at the metropolitan office, confirmed that out of 187 cooperatives, 58 have had their deposit refunds disbursed in installments through settlements. He added, “Recommendations have been made, but the municipal executive has yet to officially declare any cooperative as problematic.”

Recently, the metropolitan office published a list of 1,148 cooperatives that had lost contact; some have since re-established communication. There is currently no separate committee formed for managing problematic cooperatives, and according to department staff, the recommendation process is ongoing within the municipal executive office.