New Delhi: The Indian government has introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha that seeks to stipulate minimum capital requirements for all banking segments, laying down procedures for the merger of non-banking finance companies with banks and allowing banking companies to issue preference shares.

The Bill also proposes freezing all regulatory exemptions currently enjoyed by cooperative banks under the Banking Regulation Act, thereby bringing the regulation of the sector at par with that of commercial banks.

The Banking Regulation (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2003, also proposes to empower the Reserve Bank of India to remove the chairman of a cooperative banking society and to supersede the board of a banking company or banking cooperative society.

The Bill, which was introduced by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, was partly prompted by the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee that had desired a level-playing regulatory field for commercial banks and cooperative banks.