RBI fines ICICI, Bank of Baroda over fake customers

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined ICICI Bank Ltd and state-run Bank of Baroda over violations of customer protection rules that allowed fraudsters to cash fake checks and postal orders for up to two years.

The RBI, which regulates the country's lenders, said it had fined ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector lender, 5 million rupees ($78,561), while Bank of Baroda was fined 2.5 million rupees.

The banks had no immediate comment.

The RBI said its move followed a complaint over a fraud in five banks, including ICICI and Baroda but also State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala, and Axis Bank .

 

The RBI did not impose any penalty on the latter three banks but has cautioned them to ensure strict compliance of what it calls "know-your-customer" rules, it said.

($1 = 63.6450 rupees)

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques)