The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-constituted Committee on Model Bye-laws for Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) will hold a crucial stakeholder consultation in Pune on July 30 as part of its efforts to develop a modern, uniform and future-ready governance framework for the country’s urban cooperative banking sector.
The meeting will bring together representatives of UCBs, cooperative federations, banking associations and sector experts to provide suggestions before the draft Model Bye-laws are finalized.
The five-member Committee, constituted by the RBI in June 2026 under the chairmanship of Dinesh Oulkar, former Additional Commissioner and Special Registrar, Cooperation Department, Government of Maharashtra, includes banking and cooperative experts Ganesh Dhargalkar, Kavi R.C.V. Seshachalam, former RBI Chief General Manager P.K. Arora and RBI’s College of Agricultural Banking faculty member Murlee Krishna M.
The initiative marks the first comprehensive revision of Model Bye-laws for UCBs in nearly five decades, replacing the framework developed by the Madhav Das Committee in 1979. The Committee was constituted following significant amendments to the Banking Regulation Act in 2020 and 2025, which strengthened RBI’s regulatory oversight over cooperative banks, introduced governance reforms and revised provisions relating to board tenure and management.
The proposed Model Bye-laws aim to harmonise cooperative laws with banking regulations, reduce ambiguities arising from dual regulation and enable UCBs to operate under a consistent governance framework.
Ahead of the consultation, the Committee circulated a detailed questionnaire to Urban Cooperative Banks and their federations seeking feedback on governance practices, membership norms, elections, board composition, fit-and-proper criteria, capital raising, customer protection, cyber security, digital banking, risk management, NPA resolution and harmonisation of state cooperative laws with RBI regulations.
The stakeholder meeting will be held at the Chenab Conference Hall of the College of Agricultural Banking (CAB), RBI, Pune. Participants will deliberate on existing bye-laws, identify best practices adopted by successful UCBs across the country and recommend provisions that promote professionalism, transparency, stronger internal controls and better regulatory compliance.
The exercise is expected to provide Urban Cooperative Banks with a standardised governance template that can be suitably adopted by states while preserving cooperative principles.
Sector observers believe the new Model Bye-laws will help improve board effectiveness, facilitate capital mobilisation, strengthen depositor confidence and enhance the ability of UCBs to compete in an increasingly technology-driven banking environment, while ensuring full alignment with RBI’s evolving governance framework for cooperative banks.
