By an order dated 03-09-2024, the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) imposed a penalty of Rs. 1.91 crores on Axis Bank Limited (‘Axis bank’) for contravention of Section 19 (1)(a) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Interest rate on deposits’, ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’, and ‘Credit flow to Agriculture — collateral free agricultural loans’.
Background
RBI conducted a statutory inspection for supervisory evaluation regarding the financial position of Axis bank as well as a review of activities of its subsidiary company on 31-03-2023. Thereafter, a show cause notice was sent to Axis bank seeking an answer as to why a penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the BR Act and RBI directions.
RBI found that the following charges against Axis bank were sustained:
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Axis bank opened certain savings deposit accounts in the name of ineligible entities;
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Axis bank had allotted multiple customer identification codes to certain customers instead of a Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) for each customer;
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Axis bank had obtained collateral security for agricultural loans up to Rs. 1.6 lakh in certain cases;
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A wholly owned subsidiary of Axis bank undertook the business of technology service provider, which was impermissible as per Section 6 of the BR Act.
Further, RBI clarified that the action taken was based on deficiencies in statutory and regulatory compliance and was not related to the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by Axis bank with its customers.