Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank Ltd., Pune Included in RBI’s Second Schedule

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has officially included The Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank Ltd., Pune in the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. This development marks a key milestone for the Pune-based cooperative bank, granting it scheduled bank status.

According to a notification issued by RBI (DoR.REG./LIC.No.S75/08.27.300/2025-26), the inclusion was made on April 7, 2025, and the update was published in the Gazette of India on May 9, 2025.

With this inclusion, Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank now enjoys several benefits available to scheduled banks. These include:

• Access to facilities from the RBI, such as liquidity support under the central bank’s monetary policy.
• Eligibility to participate in clearinghouses.
• Enhanced trust and recognition in the banking sector, which can lead to broader financial partnerships and customer confidence.

The announcement was shared with all banks through an official communication dated May 27, 2025, signed by Manoranjan Padhy, Chief General Manager at RBI. This recognition comes as a significant boost for the cooperative bank, helping strengthen its position in the Indian banking ecosystem.

Scheduled Banks in India refer to those banks which have been included in the Second Schedule of Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in turn includes only those banks in this Schedule which satisfy all the criteria laid down vide section 42(6)(a) of the said Act. Banks not under this Schedule are called Non-Scheduled Banks.

Every Scheduled bank enjoys two types of principal facilities: it becomes eligible for debts/loans at the bank rate from the RBI; and, it automatically acquires the membership of clearing house.

There are two main categories of scheduled banks in India, namely:

• Scheduled Commercial banks
• Scheduled Co-operative banks

Scheduled commercial Banks are further divided into six types, as below:

1. Scheduled Public Sector Banks
2. Scheduled Private Sector Banks
3. Scheduled Small Finance Banks
4. Regional Rural Banks
5. Foreign Banks
6. Payment banks (currently five banks Airtel Payments Bank, Fino Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank, NSDL Payments Bank, Jio Payments Bank ,Paytm Payments Bank(Paytm payment Bank restricted to deposit money in 2024) have been granted Scheduled bank status).

Scheduled Co-operative banks are further divided into 2 types namely:

1. Scheduled State Co-operative banks
2. Scheduled Urban cooperative banks