The Reserve Bank of India has said that banks are 'cornering' customer surplus by charging high fees on inter-bank ATM transactions in the name of recovering technology costs.
Among other demands, the unions are also seeking immediate introduction of five-day week in full and reduction of cash transaction hours and regulated working hours.
Banks have approached Reserve Bank of India with a proposal for allowing them to provide doorstep cash delivery services to individual customers.
India CEOs of 12 banks form pressure group within IBA.
A section of the public sector banking employees will go on two-day all-India strike from Wednesday to protest against financial sector reforms and outsourcing of jobs.
'It has remained around 38 per cent over the past four to five quarters.'
Micro-finance institutions (MFIs) are planning to take legal action against YES Bank's move to recall a part of its loans to them.
It is Finance Minister P Chidambaram's meeting with leaders of public sector bank unions that averted the three-day bank strike proposed from March 28.
The strike could have put customers to inconvenience, since banking services would have remained disrupted almost the entire next week, and for the government, as tax payments for 2006-07 have to be made by March 31.
With concern on food inflation ebbing with the monsoon progressing well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is warming up to the idea of a change in stance to "neutral" from "withdrawal of accommodation", according to economists. In his speech on Thursday during the annual event of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry-Indian Banks' Association, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said: "The balance between inflation and growth is well-poised."
This is not a new or unknown problem, but every time it crops up, our policy-makers have tried to wish it away. In the present circumstances too, the government has stopgap arrangements. It is borrowing from the World Bank (that's window-dressing fiscal deficit), says Ajit Ranade.
In an effort to boost credit flow to the housing sector, public sector banks are going to finalise the new interest rate regime for home loans up to Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) on Thursday.
Banks in India will need about $100 billion (Rs 5 lakh crore) of capital over the next decade as the system grows to meet credit requirements of an expanding economy, Om Prakash Bhatt, chairman of the State Bank of India said.
'We face the risk of remaining a low-income country for a very long time unless something changes in the next few years.' 'Instead of constantly talking about becoming a developed economy, we need to start fixing the problems of the economy one by one.' 'There is so much potential, and we are squandering away the opportunity.'
Public sector banks on Monday announced that home loans up to Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000) would be given at a maximum interest rate of 8.5 per cent, while those between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 20 lakh (Rs 500,000 and Rs 2 million) would be offered at 9.25 per cent.
Over 8.5 lakh employees, majorly from public sector banks (PSBs), will get a 15 per cent hike in pay, with the conclusion of the 11th Bipartite Wage Negotiations on Wednesday. After three years of intense negotiations, the UFBU, which represents four bank officer associations and five workman unions, and the IBA on July 22 entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for an annual wage hike of 15 per cent.
The free run at automated teller machines might end soon, with banks petitioning the Reserve Bank of India to put curbs on cash withdrawals at third-party ATMs. Representatives from the Indian Banks Association, who met central bank officials late last month to make a case, said RBI had accepted most of their suggestions and these are likely to come into effect soon.
Banks want the government to bear the cost of providing cover under the proposed credit guarantee scheme for distressed farmers.
When AS-15 became operative in 2006, the initial estimate for additional pension provisioning was estimated at Rs 6,000 crore. However, the latest wage revision may bring in an additional 275,000 bank employees who opted for PF. Banks may also provide for the pension liabilities of 65,000 employees who have retired but have been seeking resort to the defined pension scheme since 1996. This will require additional provisioning of Rs 6,000 crore.
However, the likely impact of strike may not be much excluding few areas, said SBI.
The banking industry could witness another round of prime lending rate hikes beginning next week, a top Indian Banks' Association official said on Wednesday.
More than 200,000 bank officers began a one-day strike on Friday to demand a wage increase, a move unions said would halt banking operations.
Foreign banks operating in India want the Reserve Bank of India to prepare a vision document on policy changes they can expect after March 2009.
Exporters on Thursday sought a fund of Rs 750 crore for three years to tap USD 25 billion export potential in the US, aiming to seize potential opportunities that may arise as the US President-elect, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods. In its pre-Budget meeting with the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar has also demanded extension of the five per cent Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES).
Shaktikanta Das will demit the office on Tuesday after completing six years as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra will replace him as the 26th Governor. He was appointed as the Governor on December 12, 2018, after the abrupt exit of Urjit Patel.
The United Forum of Bank Employees Unions (UFBEU) representing about 9.5 lakh (950,000) bank employees across the country, has given a two-day nation-wide bank strike call on August 6 and 7 in support of their expedite settlement of wage revision demands.
The Indian Banks' Association (IBA) on Friday asked Reserve Bank to allow home-grown banks to set up intermediate holding companies for raising capital for their insurance, asset management and allied businesses.
Interest subsidy to cost Rs 200 cr for the government.
Acknowledging that the credit delivery system is not functioning as expected, RBI has constituted two committees as directed by the ministry.
Foreign investors turned net sellers in October, offloading shares worth Rs 27,142 crore in just the first three days of October due to intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, a sharp rise in crude oil prices, and improved performance of Chinese markets. The outflow came after FPI investment reached a nine-month high of Rs 57,724 crore in September. Since June, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have consistently bought equities after withdrawing Rs 34,252 crore in April-May.
Thousands of public sector bank employees across the country now have reason to rejoice.
The Centre is planning to raise the ceiling on foreign equity holding in public sector banks to enable them to mop up the required capital for meeting higher capital requirements and to fund growth.
Bank unions on Thursday called for a nationwide strike on August 24 to protest the 'negative attitude' of the Indian Bank Association over employees' wage revision.
The government on Tuesday appointed C S Setty as chairman of the country's biggest lender State Bank of India (SBI) for a period of three years. Setty, currently senior most MD of the bank, will replace incumbent chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara on August 28.
Banks all over the country will observe a day's strike on August 24 in protest against the delay in settlement of wage negotiations.
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