Surat: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 18.30 lakh on The Surat People’s Co-operative Bank Ltd (SPB), for failing to comply with regulatory directions pertaining to the reporting of large exposures. In its order dated Aug 28, the RBI states that the penalty was for not complying with the guidelines for urban cooperative banks on ‘Reporting of Large Exposures to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC)’. The action came after a statutory inspection of the bank conducted with reference to its financial position as of March 31, 2024. The RBI found that the bank did not report credit information pertaining to certain borrowers to CRILC within the prescribed timeframe. “Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why a penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, additional submissions made by it, and oral submission made during the personal hearing, RBI found that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting the imposition of a penalty: The bank did not report credit information pertaining to certain borrowers to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) within the prescribed time,” according to the RBI statement. The RBI clarified that the action was based on deficiencies in compliance and is not intended to affect the validity of transactions or agreements of the bank with its customers. The central bank further noted that the penalty is without prejudice to any other action it may initiate against the co-operative lender. “This penalty is related to the submission of insufficient data in 2024. The bank could not furnish some data due to migration to new software and the unavailability of specific data. We have migrated to new software now and now have better data management,” an SPB official said.
