Pigmy and daily deposit collection in Telangana

Daily collection is usually written about as a Karnataka and Maharashtra practice. In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Mahesh Cooperative Urban Bank runs a daily deposit scheme with collection through an authorised agent, under a name that never uses the word pigmy. Its published terms, with sources and dates, are on that profile. What follows is the Telangana law around it: two co-operative Acts, and what each says about deposits.

Two co-operative laws, both from 2016 in their present form

Telangana inherited Andhra Pradesh's co-operative laws when the State was formed in 2014, and adapted them in 2016:

• The Telangana Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 is the Andhra Pradesh Act of that year, adapted to Telangana by Government Order G.O.Ms.No.53 of 20 May 2016. It provides for a Registrar of Co-operative Societies appointed by the State Government (section 3).
• The Telangana Mutually Aided Co-operative Societies Act, 1995 is a separate law. A society registered under the 1964 Act may convert to it only after returning the share capital, loans, land, subsidies and concessions it received from the Government (section 4(3)(e)).

Which of the two a given society is registered under is a question to ask the society; we have not established it for any institution. The deposit rules below bind societies. A co-operative bank is a registered society too (under a state Act or the Multi-State Act), but its deposit-taking is also licensed and supervised by the Reserve Bank under the Banking Regulation Act; a credit society has only the Registrar over it. That difference decides where a problem goes and whether deposit insurance can apply.

What both Acts say about deposits

Under the 1964 Act, section 47(1) as substituted in 2016: a society "shall receive deposits (of any form or nomenclature) and raise loans from members and associate members only". How far, and on what terms, is left to its bye-laws. A society's proposals to take short-term or long-term fixed deposits also need the Registrar's prior approval.

Under the 1995 Act, section 14(2) as substituted in 2016: a society "shall not accept any deposits from any individuals other than members."

"Of any form or nomenclature" matters for daily collection: on its face, the 1964 rule covers a deposit whatever a society calls the account. Assam's law, by contrast, lets a society take deposits from non-members, within its Act and bye-laws (Assam).

We report what the two sections say. What associate membership involves in a given society is set by its bye-laws, which we have not reviewed.

The vocabulary problem

The word pigmy is regional. The same kind of product appears as Nithya Dhara at a coastal Karnataka district bank, as Bachat Nidhi at a Sangli bank, and as a daily deposit scheme here. Searching for the Karnataka word in a state that does not use it produces an apparent absence. Same scheme, different names maps the labels.

Where to take a problem

A complaint about a co-operative bank goes to the bank first and then, if unresolved, to the Reserve Bank's ombudsman route. One about a society goes to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. Where to complain sets out each step and its time limits.

What we could not establish

• How widespread daily collection is in Telangana. Searching bank websites turned up one institution; no register of the practice exists.
• The Registrar's current web address. The Telangana co-operation department's site did not respond when we checked on 9 October 2026, so we cite the Act's provision for the office instead.
• Whether the Rules under either Act add conditions to the deposit sections quoted above.
• Whether any state rule governs agent commission in Telangana, or whether Andhra Pradesh differs, which we have not examined.