National Cooperative Regulatory Authority Registers Nearly 2,300 Cooperatives

Kathmandu. The National Cooperative Regulatory Authority has registered and documented approximately 2,300 cooperatives.

With the objective of making the cooperative sector organized, transparent, and reliable, the Authority has initiated the registration and documentation of all cooperatives across the country whose primary business is savings and credit.

The Authority has been given the primary responsibility for the regulation, monitoring, and supervision of cooperative institutions operating within the jurisdiction of the federal, provincial, and local levels whose main business is savings and credit.

If these cooperatives conduct business without registration and documentation with the Authority, it will be considered illegal, and their balance sheet audits and renewal processes will be halted. Therefore, the Authority has also directed savings and credit cooperative institutions to obtain membership in the Credit Information Center.

According to Keshav Bhattarai, Director at the Authority, as per Section 81 of the Cooperative Act 2074, savings and credit cooperative institutions are required to be affiliated with the Credit Information Center for information exchange. He informed that a data management system and a system for information exchange regarding loan transactions have been established for the protection of depositors' savings.

The Cooperative Act stipulates that cooperative institutions whose main business is savings and credit must obtain membership in the Credit Information Center and regularly exchange information related to loan transactions.