The Reserve Bank of India lenders on Monday to give defaulting borrowers enough time to respond before they are classified as “fraud accounts.
The amendment to current rules incorporates a Supreme Court judgment in March last year that a bank cannot unilaterally declare an account as fraud without providing the defaulter the right to be heard.
The Reserve Bank of India has directed banks to provide defaulting borrowers with a minimum of 21 days to respond before classifying their accounts as “fraud.”
The Reserve Bank of India on Monday, issued three revised Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management for the Regulated Entities viz. (i) Commercial Banks (including Regional Rural Banks) and All India Financial Institutions; (ii) Cooperative Banks (Urban Cooperative Banks / State Cooperative Banks / Central Cooperative Banks); and (iii) Non-Banking Finance Companies (including Housing Finance Companies).
As per the latest Master Directions, all Regulated entities (Res) like banks, HFCs, NBFCs, etc., are now expressly required to ensure compliance with the principles of natural justice i.e., audi alteram partem (the right to be heard), in a time-bound manner before classifying Persons / Entities as fraud, duly taking into account the Hon’ble Supreme Court Judgment dated March 27, 2023 (Civil Appeal No. 7300 of 2022 in the matter of State Bank of India & Ors. Vs. Rajesh Agarwal & Ors.). Framework on Early Warning Signals (EWS) and Red Flagging of Accounts (RFA) has been strengthened further for early detection and prevention of frauds in the REs and timely reporting to Law Enforcement Agencies and Supervisors. Further, requirements for Data Analytics and Market Intelligence Units for strengthening risk management systems have been mandated.
Directions also emphasise the need for instituting robust internal audit and control frameworks in the REs. Lenders’ fraud risk Management policy shall be reviewed by the board at least once in every three years. Banks are also required to constitute a special committee of the board to monitor and follow-up fraudulent cases, the RBI said.
With the issuance of these Master Directions, the existing 36 Circulars on the subject stand withdrawn.
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