By Co-op News
The Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) has warned that it will take punitive action against Saccos that fail to refund deposits for members leaving the Society or moving to another one.
“Saccos across the board must put in place mechanisms to quickly and efficiently resolve member complaints, particularly those seeking refunds of their deposits or savings after exiting from the membership of a Sacco,” said John Munuve, Chairman, SASRA.
He said the perennial delays in refunding member deposits, which has been the bane of members exiting their respective Saccos, should be made a thing of the past.
“Saccos must make it easy for exiting members, just as it has made it easy for joining members. This will endear them to more membership but is also consistent with the International Cooperative Principle of free entry and free exit,” said Munuve.
He warned that in a fast-evolving technologically-driven financial sector in Kenya, impediments that make exiting Saccos tedious only serve to drive away potential members, particularly the younger generation of the citizenry, who will not hesitate to invest their funds in the many other available alternative financial institutions.
Data from the SASRA indicate that 36.75% of all complaints received by the Authority in 2020 involve delays in settling claims and refunding savings and deposits or share transfer of those exiting from a particular Sacco.
This was followed by delays in the issuance of loans( 22.29%), matters concerning guarantors and guarantee of loans( 12.05%), suspected fraud( 9.64%), other general complaints( 4.82%), irregular deduction of deposit( 4.82%), Irregular FOSA Account transaction( 2.41%), delayed deceased payment/pension( 2.41%), Failure to pay dividends on time, use of collateral by the SACCO and CRB listing, at 1.20% each.
In contrast, minor complaints were matters to do with elections within Saccos and non-remittances
