As news broke that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) under moratorium till December 16, customers of the bank took their venting to social media platforms.
The move was announced through an order issued by the Ministry of Finance. The bank will not be allowed to make payments exceeding Rs 25,000 to any creditors without prior approval from the RBI.
LVB stock was locked in 20 percent lower circuit in the early trade on November 18.
The RBI, in consultation with the Central government, has superseded the board of directors of LVB for a period of 30 days owing to a serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank. TN Manoharan, former non-executive chairman of Canara Bank has been appointed as the administrator.
After the news broke, customers left a host of complaints under the regulator’s notice on microblogging site Twitter – from questioning “delay” of the move, to bemoaning financial troubles amid the pandemic, recalling previous instances with PMC and Yes Bank and expressing dissatisfaction with private banks.
— Płodny (@plodny) November 17, 2020
— Pinku Mohanty (@PinkuMohanty15) November 17, 2020
— Kapil Gupta (@kgupta_7) November 17, 2020
Some pled for the moratorium to be reconsidered.
— Ra_Bies 2.0 (@Ra_Bies) November 17, 2020
Many called for the RBI to be “more vigilant”, “act sooner” and “please protect depositor money”, others were critical of the regulator “waiting till now” and “acting at the last minute”.
— Bsrinivas (@Bsrinivas654) November 17, 2020
— Saurabh joshi (@SaurabhDJosh) November 17, 2020
— Saurabh joshi (@SaurabhDJosh) November 17, 2020
Others questioned the credibility of private banks – pointing out that many have been embroiled in issues that have caused pain to customers, stating “loss of trust” in private institutions.
Pvt Banks have been failing to build public trust. Now it is time to nationalise all private banks instead of privatising national banks.
— Seema (@2019Seema) November 17, 2020
One month moratorium on #LakshmiVilasBank. Cash withdrawal limit of Rs 25,000 for depositors.
Forget Privatization, After #YesBankScam & #PMCBankScam question for more regulations & control over private Banks raising again by nationalization.
— Newton Bank Kumar (@idesibanda) November 17, 2020
— Modiji wale 500₹ (@modijiwale500) November 17, 2020
Twitter being twitter, memes also took centre stage as people looked to humour their pain away.
— hari warrier (@hariwar) November 17, 2020
— Ashok Balaji (@CyberboyAshok) November 17, 2020
— Rofl Babu #BiharElections2020 (@Rofl_babuu) November 17, 2020