The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monday said it has penalised 22 banks, including the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank, for violation of know your customer (KYC) norms and money laundering.
The central bank said it had penalised the banks after carrying out scrutiny of books of accounts, internal control, compliance systems and processes of the banks.
The country's largest lender, State Bank of India, has been fined Rs.3 crore. The penalty on Punjab National Bank is Rs.2.5 crore.
The RBI said in a statement that it has imposed the penalty "for violation of its instructions, among other things, on know your customer (norms) and anti-money laundering (guidelines)".
Other banks penalised by the RBI include Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Vijaya Bank, Yes Bank, Ratnakar Bank and Deutsche Bank.
"Based on the findings of the scrutiny, the Reserve Bank issued a show cause notice to each of these banks, in response to which the individual banks submitted written replies," RBI said.
"After considering the facts of each case and individual bank's reply, as also, personal submissions, information submitted and documents furnished, the Reserve Bank came to the conclusion that (charges of) some of the violations were substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty," it added.