The Rajya Sabha has successfully passed The Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, paving the way for digital and virtual banking records to be legally admissible as evidence in courts, a crucial step for India's evolving financial sector.
Key Points
- The Rajya Sabha passed The Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, to modernise banking evidence laws.
- The new bill allows digital and virtual banking records to be admissible as evidence in Indian courts.
- It replaces a British-era legislation, aligning legal frameworks with contemporary digital banking practices.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated the bill provides a uniform evidential framework for all regulated financial entities.
- The legislation aims to strengthen public confidence and protect customer privacy regarding banking records.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed a bill, which seeks to replace a British-era legislation, paving the way for inclusion of digital and virtual records as admissible evidence in the court of law, in sync with the digital dependence of the banking system.
The Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, already passed by the Lok Sabha on August 5, seeks to provide for law relating to evidence with respect to bankers' books and to align it with contemporary digital banking practices. The bill was passed in the upper house by a voice vote.
Modernising Banking Evidence Law
Replying to a debate on the bill, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the banking and financial sector has evolved significantly in this country over the past few decades with the emergence of NBFCs, payment aggregators, fintech companies and other service providers, having a pan-India presence.
These entities, she said, perform an important role in fulfilling the banking and financial needs of the common people. It is, therefore, necessary that whenever and wherever required, they are provided a similar evidential framework.
The finance minister informed that Clause 4 of the bill enables the central government to act and to extend the Act to other regulated financial entities through a notification, ensuring that a uniform evidential framework across all the financial sector is available.
Key Provisions And Parliamentary Debate
The bill permits banking records to be produced either in physical or in electronic form as the case may be, Sitharaman said. "The bill strengthens public confidence by providing a clear, secure and transparent legal framework for the use of banking records in legal proceedings while fully safeguarding the privacy and the confidentiality of customers," she added.
Earlier in the day, as the finance minister moved The Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026 in the House for discussion, Opposition parties staged a walkout after the Chair disallowed their attempts to raise issues, including the alleged donation theft at the Ayodhya Ram temple and the use of pellet guns against protesters during the July 20 Sansad march.
The Opposition has been demanding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah come to Parliament and respond to the alleged use of pellet guns against students and other protesters during the July 20 march by students, besides seeking accountability over the alleged theft or misappropriation of donations at the Ram temple.
