KATHMANDU: The government has started returning deposits to small savers affected by troubled cooperatives.

The Problematic Cooperative Management Committee on Monday refunded money to 378 small depositors from three cooperatives.

According to the committee, refunds were made to 215 depositors of Kantipur Cooperative, 156 from Shiva Shikhar Multipurpose Cooperative, and seven from Pashupati Cooperative.

On the first day, priority was given to depositors with smaller savings, and refunds will now be processed gradually based on classification of deposit amounts, according to the secretariat of Minister of Land Management, Cooperatives and Federal Affairs and General Administration Pratibha Rawal.

The secretariat stated that around 76,000 depositors of troubled cooperatives are owed approximately Rs 46 billion in total.

Most of these are small depositors. Depositors with less than Rs 500,000 are categorized as small savers, while those with more than Rs 500,000 are classified as large depositors.

Out of the total, around 18,000 people fall under the large depositor category.

Minister Rawal said recovery of loans from cooperatives is being accelerated to facilitate refunding of deposits.

She added that after the details of troubled cooperative loans were made public, many borrowers have started repaying their dues.

According to the committee, borrowers of troubled cooperatives have so far repaid more than Rs 20 million.

The committee said loan recovery and deposit refunds will proceed simultaneously.