Nepal, Sept. 10 -- The Department of Cooperatives (DoC) has barred cooperative unions from carrying out new financial transactions, including accepting deposits and issuing loans.

The DoC issued the directive to implement new provisions introduced through amendments to the Cooperative Act, 2017, which were approved at the end of the last fiscal year.

The government amended the Cooperative Act through an ordinance in April and later converted the amendment into a bill, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives in June.

The DoC said it has instructed the concerned cooperative unions not to carry out new savings and loan transactions in line with Sub-section 9 of Section 50 of the Cooperative Act. The provision prohibits coopera...