New Delhi: In the coming days, every bank customer of the country can nominate four nominees for his bank account. Four persons can be declared as successors for the bank account at the same time or their names can be legally registered in a sequential manner.

In this regard, a proposal has been made in the Banking (Amendment) Act, 2024 presented by the government in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The bill was introduced by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. Through this, four different types of laws related to the banking system are being amended.

The interests of customers can be protected in a better way

The government says that the amendment will protect the rights of banking customers in a better way. An important proposed amendment is that if an investor's unclaimed dividend, interest due on shares or bonds has been transferred to the Investor Protection Fund, then the said investor will have the right to withdraw his money.

Many times investors are not aware of it and the old invested amount is put in the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IESF) because the bank account is not operational. Once the money is deposited in the said fund, there was no system to withdraw it, the way for which will now be opened.

There are some amendments to improve the working of cooperative banks

In the preamble of the amendment bill, the government has said that in the last few years, many changes have taken place in the banking sector of the country and amendments are being proposed by taking steps accordingly. Some amendments are being made with the objective of improving the working of cooperative banks.

For example, the tenure of directors of cooperative banks is being increased from 8 years to 10 years. This does not include full-time directors or chairmen. This arrangement has already been made for other commercial banks.

Similarly, it is proposed to allow persons working as directors of Central Cooperative Banks to simultaneously work as directors of State Cooperative Banks. An arrangement is being made for all banks that now they will have to send statutory reports not on the last Friday of every fortnight but on the last day of the fortnight.

Opposition opposed the bill

Congress MP Manish Tewari, TMC MP Saugata Roy and some other opposition MPs opposed the proposed amendment bill, saying that through this the government intends to increase its interference in cooperative banks.

Rai said that there was no need to introduce a bill in Parliament for these minor changes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied to this saying that the government's intention is not to interfere in the cooperative banks but to improve their functioning and give more freedom to the banks.