Around 11,600 cooperatives are currently undergoing registration with the National Cooperative Regulatory Authority. The authority has initiated the process to regulate savings and credit cooperatives across the country with the aim of making the cooperative sector more organized, transparent, and trustworthy.
Among the cooperatives that submitted online applications for registration, nearly 3,000 have already received operating licenses. The remaining 8,000 cooperatives are still under verification, where authorities are reviewing submitted details and examining incomplete documents.
The government established the regulatory authority a year ago after growing concerns over the safety of depositors’ funds due to weak regulation, monitoring, and supervision in the cooperative sector.
According to Authority Chairperson Khag Raj Sharma, the process of maintaining official records of cooperatives operating under federal, provincial, and local jurisdictions has already begun.
Executive Director Keshav Raj Bhattarai stated that all cooperatives across Nepal whose primary business involves savings and credit transactions must obtain registration and licensing from the authority before continuing operations.
He added that 3,646 cooperatives have submitted details for licensing, but their applications remain incomplete because required documents are still missing.
To strengthen cooperative regulation and oversight, the authority has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal. The organization is expected to assist in reviewing the financial transactions and financial health of cooperatives.
