CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal: Online link not working, hours after Union Minister Amit Shah launched portal

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched the CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal on Tuesday. The aim of this portal is to help the depositors get back their money that is stuck in 4 cooperative societies of Sahara Group. The deposits have been stuck due to the prolonged legal battle of the Sahara Group. This portal is meant to assist over 10 crores depositors in getting back their money.

However, several of the depositors took to social media and claimed that the link to the online portal and the website of Ministry of Cooperation were not working.

At the time of writing this article, the issue was still not fixed.

During the portal's launch, Union Minister Amit Shah called it an historic moment and said that this is the first time when depositors are getting refunds in a case where multiple government agencies are involved and each one has made a seizure. He also mentioned that the depositors will receive the refund in 45 days after registering on the portal.

The four cooperative societies where depositers' money has been stuck, include, Sahara Credit Cooperative Society, Saharayan Universal Multipurpose Society, Humara India Credit Cooperative Society and Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society.

The refund directive follows a Supreme Court order on March 29, instructing the transfer of Rs 5,000 crore from the Sahara-SEBI refund account to the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS).

Amit Shah has said that the depositors would get up to Rs 10,000 refund and subsequently the amount would be enhanced for those who have invested higher amounts. However, some depositors feel that the refund limit of Rs 10,000 is too less.

“I have over Rs 8 lakh stuck in Sahara India. The Rs 10,000 limit is too less as my money has been stuck for several years. The Government has also not announced anything about the interest component as not only my investment but the interest promised on my deposits are also stuck,” a Sahara Group depositor in Bihar told Financial Express.

The corpus of Rs 5,000 crore is meant to help repay about 1.7 crore depositors in the first phase. Meanwhile, Amit Shah has also assured that once the Rs 5,000 crore is utilised the government would approach the court for release of more money for additional refunds.

"Once the Rs 5,000 crore is utilised, we will approach the Supreme Court and request them to release more money so that the total refund of other depositors with higher amounts are processed," Shah said.

To register on the portal, depositers will need to have their Aadhaar registered with their mobile number and also linked to their bank account.