Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary clarified in the Lok Sabha that the Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank is not a bank under the regulatory purview of the Reserve Bank of India, as it does not hold a banking licence from the RBI.
In a written reply, the Minister stated that rural cooperative banks are regulated by the RBI and supervised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), while urban cooperative banks are both regulated and supervised by the RBI.
However, the Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank is a cooperative society registered under the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969, and is regulated by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Government of Kerala.
Chaudhary further informed the House that the Enforcement Directorate’s Kochi Zonal Office has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 10.98 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 in connection with the Karuvannur Service Co-operative Bank fraud case.
Providing details on frauds in cooperative banks in Kerala, the Minister said that as on December 31, 2025, frauds outstanding in cooperative banks under NABARD’s supervisory purview include 370 cases involving Rs 9.80 crore in the Kerala State Cooperative Bank, and five cases amounting to Rs 1.43 crore in the Malappuram District Central Cooperative Bank.