Soon after the merger of Shree Suvarna Sahakari Bank (SSSB) with the Indian Overseas Bank, the bank saw rapid decline in the deposit holdings. IOB took over the operations of SSSB on May 20, after receiving formal approval from Registrar of Companies (RoC) of Maharashtra Government and Reserve Bank of India.

SSSB was put under the moratorium on September 9, 2006 after an order was issued by RBI. Following this the 1.5 lakh of customers of the bank across 12 branches were unable to access their accounts until 20 May, when the operations were resumed as IOB.

The first week of operations saw closing of accounts and fall in the bank deposits of the nines branches in Pune by nearly Rs 14 crores. G R Gandhi, general manager (Mumbai II region), said, "Of the Rs 587 crore worth deposits in the nine branches, the total deposits now stand at Rs 573 crore." Commenting on the account closings, Gandhi said, "Of total 1.5 lakh depositors, the 100 depositors who have closed their accounts is a miniscule number, as it comprises less than 0.5 per cent. Most of them have said they want to continue with us."

Many depositors who visited the bank complained of scarce staff and operational inefficiencies. Shrikant Limaye, a depositor, said, "I wanted to withdraw the amount and deposit it elsewhere as I was tired of the ordeal. There were several announcements of the take over, first it was April 16, then it was May 20,"

Commenting on the manpower shortage, Gandhi said, there are 31 officers, 115 clerical staff and 31 sub-staff. Only 55 from clerical staff were transferred outside the state.

Gandhi also confirmed the cash availability with bank, having drawn money from the Bank of Maharashtra currency chest. He said," The depositors should not have any problem."