look news india
A big relief news has come from the Central Government for lakhs of small and medium investors who are troubled by their hard-earned deposits getting stuck in various cooperative societies of Sahara Group. The Union Ministry of Cooperation has once again activated the Sahara Refund Portal (CRCS Sahara Refund Portal) with full capacity after technical upgradation. This important step has brought unprecedented speed to the investigation process of approximately 20 lakh pending claims. Along with this, those investors who had not filed their claim till now due to some reason, can now easily apply online through their mobile or computer while sitting at home.
Through this transparent digital portal, developed under the historical guidelines and monitoring of the Honorable Supreme Court, till now a total amount of more than Rs 9,267 crore has been transferred directly into the bank accounts of more than 42 lakh legitimate depositors. The resumption of the portal has brought a new ray of hope to those investors whose payments were pending for years despite completion of maturity. The Ministry of Cooperation aims to return every penny of every genuine depositor, for which the verification mechanism has been made more transparent and stronger than ever.
Under this refund process run by the Central Government, eligible depositors of four major Multi-State Cooperative Societies of Sahara Group have been included. If you or any member of your family had invested in Fixed Deposit (FD), Recurring Deposit (RD) or other savings schemes in these four societies, you are fully entitled to claim a refund as per the rules:
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Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Limited (Lucknow)
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Saharan Universal Multipurpose Society Limited (Bhopal)
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Our India Credit Cooperative Society Limited (Kolkata)
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Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (Hyderabad)
If an investor has opened separate accounts in more than one of these four societies, there is no need to apply separately. The Ministry has provided a clear facility that applicants can link together the claims of all their accounts and societies within a single online form. Technical discrepancies may arise when applying separately, hence it has been made mandatory to submit details of all accounts in one go.
Investors will have to follow a streamlined digital process to get their valid deposits back from Sahara Group societies. While applying, instead of falling prey to any middleman or unauthorized person, go directly to the official website and complete the process:
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Visit the official portal: First of all, go to the authorized portal of the Ministry of Cooperation, mocrefund.crcs.gov.in.
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Registration and Mobile Verification: Click on the ‘Depositor Registration’ tab. Here enter your identity card details and linked active mobile number. After this, complete the registration by entering the one-time password (OTP) received on the mobile.
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Fill in the details of the claim: After login personal details will be displayed on the screen. After this, select the name of your respective cooperative society in the claim form, enter your Membership Number, Deposit Account Number, Receipt Number and passbook or certificate details.
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Upload Documents: Upload a clear scanned copy of the original bond certificate, passbook or deposit receipt related to the investment. If the total claim amount is ₹50,000 or more, it will be mandatory to upload PAN Card details and its copy.
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Final Submission and Acknowledgment: After re-checking all the details, download the declaration form, put your signature on it, paste the passport size photograph and scan it again and upload it. Once the form is finally submitted, a unique Claim Acknowledgment Number will appear on the screen, keep it safe for future reference.
To ensure transparency and prevent any kind of fraud, the government has implemented a two-tier verification system. Once the online claim is successfully filed, the technical teams of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies will match the documents uploaded by the applicant, membership number and original records within 30 days. After preliminary confirmation by Sahara Committees, the nodal mechanism of Government Chartered Auditors and Central Registrar (CRCS) will provide final approval within the next 15 days.
Thus, the status of validity of the claim will become completely clear within the prescribed time limit of maximum 45 days from the date of filing the application. As soon as the claim is cleared, the sanctioned refund amount will be transferred directly to the applicant’s Aadhaar-seeded bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). For this the applicant will not need to visit any bank branch or office; Money will be directly credited to the account and SMS alert will be received on the registered mobile number.
The accuracy of the required documents is the most important link to avoid any delay in the refund process or form rejection. Before starting the application, investors should keep ready clear digital copies of their original documents such as investment bond or passbook, identity card, active mobile number and bank passbook.
It is extremely important to ensure that the name on your identity card, the name on the Sahara bond certificate and the name on your bank account are exactly the same. Even minor differences in spelling may cause the system to block the application. Apart from this, your bank account must be mandatorily linked to Aadhaar and active on NPCI Mapper. If the bank account is not DBT enabled, then immediately go to your home branch and get Aadhaar seeding done, otherwise even after getting approval at the government level, the fund transfer may fail due to technical reasons.
If the original depositor who invested in Sahara Societies has unfortunately passed away, his legal heir or nominee need not worry. Even in such cases, a clear legal provision for getting refund has been made available on the portal.
While filing the claim, a certified copy of the death certificate of the deceased depositor, original investment document, succession certificate or duly executed legal heir certificate will have to be uploaded on the portal. Along with this, No Objection Certificate (NOC) of consent of all the legal heirs may also have to be attached. After due verification of these documents, the claim is accepted by the government machinery and the refund amount is released directly into the verified bank account of the legal heir.