Sahara Cooperative refund: 700,000 log into portal to claim ₹158 crore

More than seven lakh people have registered on the portal for depositors of Sahara cooperative societies to claim their money back and claimed a total of 158 crore as of Monday, people aware of the development said.

Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah had last week launched the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS)-Sahara Refund Portal for depositors of Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Saharayan Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd, Hamara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd to submit refund claims.

Out of the total registrations, about 2,84,000 depositors have verified their Aadhaar while only 18,442 have verified all details including receipt of making payment to one of the Sahara cooperative societies, becoming entitled for payment, people cited above said.

Sources in the government said 97% of the depositors have deposited less than ₹40,000 each in these societies.

Cooperative secretary had also informed various groups formed by depositors about the portal and the process to follow to get their payments back.

In its order on March 29, 2023, the Supreme Court had directed that Rs 5,000 crore be transferred out of the 'Sahara-Sebi Refund Account' to the CRCS for disbursement against the legitimate dues of the genuine depositors of Sahara group of cooperative societies.

It was after the Supreme Court's order that the cooperation ministry developed the portal.

After launching the portal, Shah had said through this portal, first payment of up to ₹10,000 will be made to investors after verifying all their details within 45 days of filing their online claims.

Sources said the government is confident that there are enough funds to return the money of all Sahara investors.