Lok Sabha Question No. 496 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-06
Subject: Launching of CRCS-Sahara India Refund Portal
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Dimple Yadav, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Bhola Singh, Raja Amareshwara Naik, Sukanta Majumdar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 496 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06/02/2024

## Launching of CRCS-Sahara India Refund Portal

496. SHRIMATI DIMPLE YADAV:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

Will the Minister of COOPERATION ( सहकाįरता मंũी ) be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Central  Registrar  of  Cooperative  Societies  (CRCS)-Sahara  India  Refund Portal launched by the Government has failed in registering of refund claims due to many technical issues;
- (b)  if  so,  whether  the  Government  has  received  complaints  of  non-submission  of  refund claims in the CRCS-Sahara India Refund Portal;
- (c) if so, the details thereof including the complaints received and resolved so far;
- (d) whether the Government is proposing to receive the applications of refund through email and by the India Post as many investors are from remote areas and do not have the internet access and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the number of claim applications registered so far, State-wise along with the details of the investors  who  have  been  paid  the  first  installment  of  refund  from  Sahara  Cooperative Societies Fund received from SEBI; and
- (f) the details of the amount refunded by the Ministry so far to the investors?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION सहकाįरता मंũी (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a)  to  (f):  In  an  Interlocutory  Application  filed  by  the  Ministry  of  Cooperation  in  WP  (C) No.191/2022 (Pinak Pani Mohanty vs UoI & ors.), the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 29.03.2023 inter alia ordered that:

'(i) Out of the total amount of Rs. 24,979.67 Crores lying in the 'Sahara-SEBI Refund Account',  Rs.  5000  Crores  be  transferred  to  the  Central  Registrar  of  Cooperative

Societies,  who,  in  turn,  shall  disburse  the  same  against  the  legitimate  dues  of  the depositors of the Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies, which shall be paid to  the genuine depositors in the most transparent manner and on proper identification and on submitting proof of their deposits and proof of their claims and to be deposited in their respective bank accounts directly.

(ii) The disbursement shall be supervised and monitored by Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of this Court with the able assistance of Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned Advocate, who is appointed as Amicus Curiae to assist Justice R. Subhash Reddy as well as the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies in disbursing the amount to the genuine  depositors  of  the  Sahara  Group  of  Cooperative  Societies.  The  manner  and modalities  for  making  the  payment  is  to  be  worked  out  by  the  Central  Registrar  of Cooperative Societies in consultation with Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of this Court and Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned Advocate.'

In  compliance  of  the  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court's  Order  dated  29.03.2023,  an  Online Portal  'CRCS-Sahara  refund  portal'  https://mocrefund.crcs.gov.in    has  been  launched  on 18.07.2023  for submission  of claims by the genuine  depositors of four Multi-State Cooperative  Societies  of  Sahara  Group,  namely;  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 for refund of their legitimate deposits. Entire process of disbursement is digital and  paperless  and  is  being  carried  out  under  the  supervision  and  monitoring  of  Justice  R. Subhash Reddy, Former Judge of Hon'ble Supreme Court with the assistance of Shri Gaurav Agrawal, Amicus Curiae.

Applications  received  on  the  Portal  are  being  processed  in  transparent  manner,  on proper identification and on submitting proof of their identity and deposits. The payment is being deposited directly in Aadhaar seeded bank account of the genuine depositors. Presently, payment only upto Rs.10,000/- is being disbursed to each genuine depositor of the Sahara Group  of  Cooperative  Societies  against  verified  claims  through  Aadhaar  seeded  Bank account.

Presently,  there  is  no  technical  issue  or  issue  of  internet  access  in  submission  of claims as evident from the large number of registrations. Further, in case of any deficiency found  in  the  application  of  the  depositor  on  the  portal,  deficiencies  are  being  conveyed  to them for re-submission of their application through the re-submission portal already launched on 15.11.2023.

State-wise distribution of applications is not available, however a total of around 1.21 Crore applications have been registered on the 'CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal' and an amount of Rs.258.47 Crore has been released to 2,77,607 depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies upto 31.01.2024.

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