What India’s PMC Bank scam can teach you about managing your money

Andrew Lobo, a resident of Mumbai, died of a cardiac arrest because he couldn’t pay for the oxygen machines he needed to breathe. The limit placed on withdrawals led to a situation where he couldn’t break his fixed deposits to pay for the machines.

Chirag Sanghani, another Mumbai resident, who happens to be a businessman, had all his savings in Punjab Maharashtra cooperative (PMC) bank. After the limits were placed on deposit withdrawal, his business came to a standstill and he had to survive on loans from friends and relatives. In fact, around the time the scam broke out, several WhatsApp videos of PMC depositors who were negatively impacted by the limit placed on deposit withdrawal, started going around. The good money of these depositors had turned into bad money.

There were many such individuals who were badly affected due to the limit placed on deposit withdrawals from PMC. In fact, the experience of PMC depositors offers us a few basic lessons in personal finance all over again.

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