The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks and financial institutions (FIs) to submit the list of suit-filed accounts of Rs 1 crore and above as on March 31, 2002, and quarterly updates thereof till December 2002, to it and the Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd (CIB) for a period of one year till March 31, 2003. The banking regulator has said that after this one-year period, the information should be submitted to the CIB only and not to it.
In the case of suit-filed accounts of willful defaulters of Rs 25 lakh and above also it has asked the banks and FIs to follow suit. Banks and notified FIs have been advised to continue to submit the data relating to non-suit filed accounts of Rs 1 crore and above, classified as doubtful or loss, as on March 31, and September 30 and also quarterly list of willful defaulters where suits have not been filed only to RBI as hitherto, the central bank said in a notification.
CIB was set up in January 2001, to serve as an effective mechanism for exchange of information between banks and FIs for curbing NPA growth. The Centre is examining a draft legislation covering, inter alia, responsibilities of the CIB, rights and obligations of members/reporting credit institutions, and safeguarding of the privacy rights that may arise in the information sharing process by the CIB.
Pending the enactment of the CIB Regulation Bill, as a first step towards activating the Bureau, the RBI constituted a working group in December 2001, to examine the possibility of the CIB performing the role of collecting and disseminating information on the suit filed accounts and the list of defaulters, at present being reported to the RBI by banks and notified financial institutions.
