The Union Ministry of Cooperation has announced a major relief for lakhs of investors of the Sahara Group’s multi-state cooperative societies.
As of now, the government has, however, refunded ₹5,139.23 crore to about 27.33 lakh investors, said Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah in a written reply to Parliament.
The refund is being processed in line with the Supreme Court’s order dated 29 March 2023.
The court had, however, directed that ₹5,000 crore from the ₹24,979.67 crore deposited in the ‘Sahara-SEBI Refund Account’ be transferred to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies to begin repayment to genuine depositors.
Scheme Targets Investors of Four Sahara Group Cooperatives:
- Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Lucknow
- Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Society Ltd, Bhopal
- Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Kolkata
- Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, Hyderabad
The CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal (https://mocrefund.crcs.gov.in) has been launched for digital, paperless applications. Eligible investors are those whose deposits matured by 31 March 2023 and who have not received a refund yet.
The entire refund process is further being monitored by Justice R Subhash Reddy, retired judge of the Supreme Court. Advocate Gaurav Agarwal has been appointed as amicus curiae to assist.
Currently, each valid depositor is receiving up to ₹50,000 of their principal amount. The sum is, however, being transferred directly to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The government may raise this cap gradually to prioritise smaller investors.
For applications with errors, a ‘re-submission portal’ (https://mocresubmit.crcs.gov.in) has been launched to allow corrections.
According to the ministry, more than 1.35 crore investors have applied so far. Around 1.08 crore applicants are still awaiting payment. An amount of ₹523.72 crore remains to be disbursed.
The Supreme Court has set 31 December 2025 as the final deadline to complete the refund process for all Sahara investors.
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