Government Releases ₹370 Crore to Sahara Group Depositors via Online Portal

The government has disbursed nearly ₹370 crore to over 4.29 lakh depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies through an online portal. This follows a Supreme Court order, with refunds monitored by Justice R Subhash Reddy. The Supreme Court has extended the order's implementation until December 2024.

The government announced on Monday that it has disbursed nearly ₹370 crore to more than 4.29 lakh depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies through an online portal.

Following the Supreme Court's order, the CRCS-Sahara refund portal was launched on July 18, 2023, to facilitate claims by legitimate depositors from four multi-state cooperative societies for refund of their deposits.

The societies include Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd., Lucknow; Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd., Bhopal; Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd., Kolkata, and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd., Hyderabad. Justice R Subhash Reddy is overseeing the digital disbursement process.

As of now, ₹369.91 crore has been disbursed to 4,29,166 depositors, with the Supreme Court granting an extension till December 31, 2024, for the full implementation of its March 29, 2023, order, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra revealed in a written Lok Sabha reply.

In line with the Supreme Court's March 29, 2023, order, ₹5,000 crore was transferred from the Sebi-Sahara Refund Account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) on May 19, 2023. The Supreme Court had previously ordered Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd (SHICL) to refund ₹25,781.37 crore to Sebi.

As of March 31, 2024, Sebi has realised ₹15,775.50 crore through various Supreme Court and its own attachment orders. The realised amount is being reinvested in fixed deposits with nationalized banks, totaling ₹20,894 crore including interest, as stated by the minister.