Two years after a savings and credit cooperative in Dhangadhi stopped operating, more than 400 depositors say they have recovered nothing of what they saved with it.
Most of those affected are small savers — vegetable traders, tailors, schoolteachers — who put in between NPR 50,000 and NPR 500,000. Several told PailoKhabar they had deposited money set aside for a child's education or a medical procedure.
The cooperative's registration was under the sub-metropolitan city, which has limited investigative capacity. Officials say the loan files were incomplete and that several large borrowers cannot be traced.
“We were told the cooperative was safe because it was registered,” said one depositor, a tailor in ward 4. “Nobody told us registration is not insurance.”
Unlike bank deposits, cooperative savings in Nepal carry no deposit insurance. The Department of Cooperatives has said a problem-resolution committee is examining such cases, but depositors in Dhangadhi say they have received no communication.
