Penalties rise as RBI turns up scrutiny of banks, NBFCs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) slapped penalties totalling ₹71.4 crore in 56 cases in the year so far as it enhanced scrutiny of banks, non-banks and other regulated entities, data compiled by Mint showed. In comparison, the banking regulator levied fines of ₹26 crore across 34 cases in all of last year.

- Shayan Ghosh

The reasons included non-compliance with guidelines on lending, delay in paying interest to senior citizens, and not specifying the date of interest rate reset on some loans.

The penalty data, available till 24 November, does not include action against cooperative and regional rural banks.

Some of the prominent lenders penalized this year include ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Paytm Payments Bank, Bajaj Finance, Citibank and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services.

The regulator itself publishes consolidated data on penalties, but on a fiscal year basis. In 2021-22, it penalized banks and non-banks in 44 instances, compared to just 18 in the previous fiscal, showed data available in RBI’s report titled Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2021-22.

Experts said it is reassuring that the regulator is keeping a close eye, and neither the lenders nor the regulator wants a return of the asset quality stress seen between 2013 and 2018.