New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced monetary penalty on ICICI Bank and Punjab National Bank (PNB).
The central bank has imposed monetary penalty of Rs 1.8 crore on Punjab National Bank and Rs 30 lakh on ICICI Bank.
This penalty has been imposed in exercise of the powers vested in RBI under the provisions of section 47A(1)(c) read with section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (Act).
According to an RBI statement, this action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to impinge on the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
ICICI Bank has been fined on November 20, 2014 for non-compliance of certain directions issued by RBI on ‘imposition of penal charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance in savings bank accounts’.
As per reports, RBI’s inspections revealed the extent to which the bank had levied charges for maintenance of minimum balance in savings accounts, which were not directly proportional to the extent of shortfall, the central bank said.
Later, the central bank came to the conclusion that non-compliance with RBI’s directions required imposition of monetary penalty.
RBI said that in the case of PNB, the regulatory action relates to the bank’s shareholding in the borrowing companies amounting to more than thirty per cent of the paid-up share capital of those companies.
Further to the same, the central bank said, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with its directions.
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