The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Depositors throng Global Trust Bank branch

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Depositors throng Global Trust Bank branch

By Our Staff Correspondent

Depositors queue up at the Global Trust Bank, where policemen were posted in anticipation of trouble, in Mangalore on Monday.

MANGALORE, JULY 26. Nearly 2,500 customers who had their savings in the branch of Global Trust Bank withdrew the stipulated amount from their accounts and term deposits here on Monday. A posse of policemen, headed by two Circle Police Inspectors, stood guard outside the branch at Trade Centre building near Jyothi Circle.

While tension was palpable amongst customers who had queued up outside the branch early in the morning, their number gradually reduced as the day progressed. Most of them were surprised by the suddenness of the decision by the Reserve Bank of India in announcing a 90-day moratorium on the bank's transactions.

The notice by the RBI on a scheme for amalgamation of Global Trust Bank with the Oriental Bank of Commerce seemed to bring in some amount of solace for the harried customers. The Bank had made due arrangements to pass on photocopies of this latest information from the RBI to the customers. The copies of the notice were also prominently displayed adjacent to the entrance of the bank.

No accounts closed

The branch manager, Mohan R. Kottary, said that there was a sense of disbelief amongst the customers about the incident. He said most of them had promised to come back to the bank to do business once things were sorted out.

He said while most customers with balances exceeding Rs. 10,000 had withdrawn to the limit prescribed by RBI, after maintaining minimum balance, none of them had so far closed their accounts. "The nine-member staff, including myself, have been attending to customers since morning and helping them with their needs. We have opened five cash counters for the purpose," he added.

The branch has 196 current accounts, 4,195 savings bank accounts and 2,202 term deposits. The total deposits with the Bank here is approximately Rs. 51 crores, including Rs. 36 crores in own deposits and Rs. 15 crores in intra-bank deposits. Rajeshwar, an ESI employee, said he had waited for nearly an hour to withdraw money from his Savings Bank account.

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