The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 21, 2023 imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.62 crore (Rupees One Crore and Sixty Two Lakh only) on Indian Bank (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’, ‘Reserve Bank of India [Know Your Customer (KYC)] Directions, 2016’ and ‘Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 51(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Background

The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE 2021) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2021, and the examination of the Risk Assessment Report/Inspection Report pertaining to ISE 2021, and all related correspondence in that regard revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid directions by the bank, to the extent it (1) sanctioned a term loan to a Corporation (i) in lieu of or to substitute budgetary resources envisaged for certain projects; (ii) without undertaking due diligence on the viability and bankability of the projects to ensure that revenue streams from the projects were sufficient to take care of the debt servicing obligations; and (iii) the repayment / servicing of which was made out of budgetary resources, (2) allowed operations and not closed several accounts opened using OTP based e-KYC in non-face-to-face mode, even after expiry of one year without conducting customer due diligence procedure, and (3) opened several savings accounts in the names of customers not eligible to maintain savings deposit account. In furtherance to the same, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the said directions, as stated therein.

After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI came to the conclusion that the charge of non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty on the bank.

(Yogesh Dayal)      
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2023-2024/984

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 21, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.00 crore (Rupees One crore only) on Punjab & Sind Bank (the bank) for non-compliance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act) read with directions issued by RBI on ‘The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014-Section 26A of Banking Regulation Act, 1949-Operational Guidelines'. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 51(1) of the BR Act.This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 20, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹8.80 lakh (Rupees Eight Lakh Eighty Thousand only) on Fedbank Financial Services Limited (the company) for non-compliance with certain provisions of the Monitoring of Frauds in NBFCs (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2016. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of Section 58G read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of Section 58B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the company with its customers.

Background

The statutory inspection of the company was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022 and examination of the Risk Assessment Report, Inspection Report, Supervisory Letter and all related correspondence pertaining to the same revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions to the extent it reported a fraud to RBI with delay. Consequently, a notice was issued to the company advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the RBI directions, as stated therein.

After considering the company’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI came to the conclusion that the charge of non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.

(Yogesh Dayal)     
Chief General Manager

Press Release: 2023-2024/982

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 21, 2023, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹1.30 Crore (Rupees One Crore and Thirty Lakh only) on State Bank of India (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’ and ‘Guidelines on Management of Intra-Group Transactions and Exposures’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 51(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, by an order dated August 14, 2023, a monetary penalty of ₹1.00 lakh (Rupees One Lakh only) on The National Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts-Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, by an order dated August 14, 2023, a monetary penalty of ₹1.00 lakh (Rupees One Lakh only) on The National Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Maintenance of Deposit Accounts-Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, by an order dated August 30, 2023, a monetary penalty of ₹11.00 lakh (Rupees Eleven Lakh only) on HCBL Co-operative Bank Ltd., Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances to Directors, their Relatives, and Firms / Concerns in which they are Interested’ and specific directions issued by RBI under the Supervisory Action Framework (SAF). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Background

The statutory inspection of the bank conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2021, and examination of the Inspection Report, Risk Assessment Report revealed, inter-alia, that the bank had (i) granted loans/advances to its director and their relatives and (ii) sanctioned fresh loans and advances to single borrowers in excess of 50% of applicable regularity limits and offered interest rates on deposits more than those offered by State Bank of India in violation of specific directions issued under SAF. In furtherance to the same, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for non-compliance with the directions, as stated therein.

After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made by it during the personal hearing, RBI came to the conclusion that the aforesaid charge of non-compliance with the RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.

(Shweta Sharma)     
Deputy General Manager

Press Release: 2023-2024/955

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, by an order dated August 30, 2023, a monetary penalty of ₹6.00 lakh (Rupees Six Lakh only) on The Citizens’ Co-operative Bank Ltd., Jammu (the bank) for non-compliance with the specific directions issued by RBI under ‘Supervisory Action Framework (SAF)’ and directions issued under ‘Exposure norms and Statutory/ Other Restrictions - UCBs’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.

Background

The statutory inspection of the bank conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022, and examination of the Inspection Reports, Risk Assessment Reports revealed, inter alia, that the bank had (i) sanctioned fresh loans and advances and allowed cash credit facilities to be overdrawn in violation of specific directions issued under SAF, and (ii) breached prudential inter-bank (gross) exposure limit and inter-bank counterparty limit. In furtherance to the same, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for non-compliance with the directions, as stated therein.

After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, RBI came to the conclusion that the aforesaid charge of non-compliance with the RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.

(Shweta Sharma)      
Deputy General Manager

Press Release: 2023-2024/954

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, by an Order dated August 22, 2023, a monetary penalty of ₹5.00 lakh (Rupees Five Lakh only) on Lalbaug Co-operative Bank Ltd., Vadodara, Gujarat (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’ and ‘Reserve Bank of India (Co-operative Banks - Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in the RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed, by an order dated August 22, 2023, a monetary penalty of ₹3.00 Lakh (Rupees Three Lakh only) on The Harij Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd., Harij, Gujarat (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Maintenance of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)’, ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’, and ‘Interest Rate on Deposits - Directions, 2016’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in the RBI under the provisions of Section 47 A (1) (c) read with Sections 46 (4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.