Public sector banks, including the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), have come out with a templated approach for restructuring retail and small business loans of up to Rs 25 crore under the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Covid restructuring package 2.0. They have also come out with standardised products to make funds available to business entities for improving healthcare infrastructure and to individuals for meeting Covid treatment expenses. Business loans have been divided into three categories.
The conciliation talks between UFBU and Indian Banks Association held in Mumbai moved a step ahead positively after the IBA offered a 9.5 per cent hike on pay slip cost and hold another round of talks on January 27, UFBU national Convenor M V Murali told PTI in Tirupati over phone.
The Reserve Bank on Thursday permitted banks to increase charges for cash and non-cash ATM transactions beyond free monthly permissible limit from next year. Bank customers will have to pay Rs 21 per transaction, instead of Rs 20, with effect from January 1, 2022, if they exceed the monthly limit of free transactions. "To compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and given the general escalation in costs, they are allowed to increase the customer charges to Rs 21 per transaction. "This increase shall be effective from January 1, 2022," the RBI said in a circular.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has directed to freeze and attach assets and properties of Videocon promoters following a petition by the ministry of corporate affairs. The NCLT Mumbai bench has directed the Central Depository Services Ltd (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) that securities owned or held by the Videocon promoters "in any company or society be frozen, and be prohibited from being transferred or alienation" and the details be shared with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). It directed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to disclose information about all assets of the Videocon promoters in their knowledge or possession, for the purpose of freezing and restraining such assets.
The Reserve Bank will consider reducing the number of free ATM withdrawals, as recommended by Indian Banks' Association, in an effort to cut down on cash transactions in the economy.
I kept insisting that Rs 100 notes were in short supply and there was an urgent need to augment the supply of 100 rupee notes while also rapidly bringing into circulation the proposed new Rs 500 notes. But this was easier said than done because all the note printing machines of the RBI were programmed for printing Rs 2,000 notes and required at least three weeks before the machines could print the new Rs 500 currency notes. The availability of currency paper posed another major bottleneck, and it had to be imported. It was decided to immediately start printing the Rs 500 notes. It was only when the supply of the new Rs 500 notes started improving and the process of change of cassettes at the ATMs gathered momentum that the situation began limping back to normal. A fascinating excerpt from former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar's The Custodian of Trust: A Banker's Memoir, five years after demonetisation, November 8.
The decision, the Reserve Bank of India said, "is expected to revolutionise the retail payments system of the country".
'I was the only Indian boxer in the final and I badly wanted to win gold for my country.' 'When the referee raised my hand and I was declared the winner, I could not stop the tears rolling down.'
Public sector banks may have to bear a burden of Rs 1,800-2,000 crore arising due to a recent Supreme Court judgement on the waiver of compound interest on all loan accounts which opted for moratorium during March-August 2020, sources said. The judgement covers loans above Rs 2 crore as loans below this got blanket interest on interest waiver in November last year. Compound interest support scheme for loan moratorium cost the government Rs 5,500 crore during 2020-21 and the scheme covered all borrowers including the prompt one who did not avail moratorium.
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday extended the timeline by six months to comply with its guidelines related to recurring online transactions with Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA), but reprimanded players that the non-compliance is a "serious concern". RBI had directed all banks including RRBs, NBFCs, and payment gateways to comply with AFA for automatic recurring payment by March 31, 2021, in order to make digital transaction safe and protect customers from fraudulent transactions. However, some of the players failed to meet the deadline and approached the RBI seeking extension of the deadline.
He said the Finance Minister assured the delegation that the Financial Services Secretary would look into the matter and the settlement process would be expedited.
Initial information from a reliable police source said that the two women killed in the blast were Chinese nationals and may have been the target of the blast.
Infosys chief mentor, N R Narayana Murthy is likely to become the non-executive chairman of the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) being set up to handle the retail payment operations of the Reserve Bank of India.
The decision was taken by bank unions at a meeting with IBA representatives, on the directive of chief labour commissioner, in Mumbai. UFBU is the umbrella body of bank unions in the country and consists of members from public, private and foreign banks.
C H Venkatachalam, convener, United Forum of Bank Unions, the umbrella body of the nine unions, said due to the failure of Thursday's talk between Indian Banks Association and UFBU before the chief labour commissioner, they have decided to go ahead with the strike. IBA is yet to resolve issues regarding wage revision and the pension option.
The finance ministry on Friday asked state governments to accord priority to employees of banks and insurance companies for Covid-19 vaccination, saying they are exposed to high risks during these difficult times.
Besides wage revision and compassionate appointment, the UFBU is also demanding provision of one more option for pension.
Norms governing investments by provident funds bar these from depositing funds in a commercial bank in case the NPAs of that bank exceed two per cent of net advances.
Asset quality of banks, which saw some improvement in the second half of 2020, is likely to worsen during the first six months of 2021, according to a survey. The findings are part of the 12th round of bankers' survey carried out by FICCI-IBA between July and December 2020. The survey was conducted on 20 banks, including public sector, private sector and foreign banks, representing about 59 per cent of the banking industry, as classified by asset size.
The United Forum of Bank Employees Union has taken this decision of going on strike after failure of talks with the Indian Banks Association on May 11, C H Venkatachalam, convenor of UFBU, said.
FM has called for a tripartite meet to resolve the bank staff issue and avoid a strike.
Employees of public sector banks have called off the strike planned on February 25 and 26
According to him, the rural economy will play a critical role in the revival process.
On October 31, Chaudhuri was arrested from his Delhi home by the Jaisalmer police for his alleged role in crippled Rs 200 crore Garh Rajwada hotel project in the city which was sold for Rs 25 crore to Alchemist ARC in March 2014. The project was financed by the bank in 2007.
The Reserve Bank will take some action by this month end after consultations with the Indian Banks' Association.\n
The staff of public sector banks had gone on a nationwide strike for two days beginning February 10 after discussions with the IBA failed.
A three-member delegation of the Indian Banks' Association met senior executives of the US Federal Reserve and New York Banking Department to explore the prospects for increased presence of Indian banks in the United States.
In a note to customers, the country's largest lender State Bank of India said, 'Interest shall continue to accrue on the outstanding portion of the term Loan during the moratorium period'. The accrued interest will be collected by the lender in the form of additional EMIs from those borrowers who opt for the three-month moratorium.
The nationwide bank strike scheduled on October 5-6 has been called off after Indian Banks Association agreed for fresh negotiations with bank unions on wage revision and other demands.
Bank employees body AIBEA, which is a major constituent of the United Forum of Bank Employees' Association that has called a nationwide strike, on Tuesday said Finance Minister P Chidambaram rejecting wage demands of bank employees is "unfortunate" and the strike was forced on them.
Sale of wide-body aircraft will not affect internatinal flights, says Jet
Mother Nature is indeed beautiful and truly astonishing! These incredible images are some of the top entries for this year's AGORA's #Nature2019 Photo Contest. AGORA is a free-to-use photography app that has been rewarding the world's biggest prizes in global photo contests since 2017. The winner will be announced on September 5, 2019.
High current account deficit, however, remains a major concern.
Amidst rising demand from banks that they be allowed to increase user fees and limit free ATMs, RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty said it is "ridiculous" for a bank to charge its own customers for these services.
Cases of students defaulting on loan payments prompted Indian Bankers Association to review the educational loan scheme. We explore what this means for students.
Finance secretary Rajiv Kumar was positive in formation of a committee consisting all concerned to address the issues arising out of the proposed merger of 10 banks including preserving the identity of all the banks.
IBA has commissioned a study to evaluate the pros and cons of keeping banks shut on Saturdays.
