The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked urban co-operative banks to introduce concurrent audit with immediate effect. Further, UCBs have been given a maximum period of six months from the date of the inspection report to remove the irregularities pointed out in the report in all respects, failing which RBI will invoke the penal provisions.
The measures comes in the wake of serious financial lapses, that undermined depositor confidence, coming to light in some banks in the last three years.
Till date, only urban co-operative banks with deposits of over Rs 50 crore were subject to concurrent audit. The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which enquired into the stock market scam of 2001 had recommended such a belt tightening measure for all UCBs.