Bank staff body lists 406 bad loan a/c worth Rs 70k cr

AIBEA also demanded the government release the list of major loan defaulters and make recovery norms stringent

The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has released the details of 406 bad loan accounts with public sector banks. These 406 loans account for non-performing assets (NPAs) worth Rs 70,300 crore.

“The total NPA in public-sector banks till September, 2013, was Rs 2.36 lakh crore. The bad loans restructured and shown as good loans amount to another Rs 3.25 lakh crore. This is public money and it has to be recovered for the benefit of the public,” AIBEA General- Secretary C H Venkatachalam told reporters while releasing the list of defaulters here on Tuesday.

Venkatachalam said the NPAs registered by all public sector banks in March 2008 was Rs 39,000 crore. The bad loans constituted by the top four defaulters in public sector banks is around Rs 23,000 crore and the bad loans in top-30 bad loan accounts in 24 banks is Rs 70,300 crore. Fresh bad loans in public sector banks in the last seven years is Rs 4.95 lakh crore.

According to AIBEA, bad loans written off in the past 13 years come to the tune of Rs 2.04 lakh crore. Profits transferred and adjusted for provisions toward bad loans from 2008 to 2013 was Rs 1.40 lakh crore. The bad loans in 172 corporate accounts of Rs 100 crore or above was Rs 37,000 crore, it added.

AIBEA also demanded that the government release the list of major loan defaulters and make loan-recovery norms stringent so that action under criminal procedure can be taken against wilful defaulters.

If top bank executives are responsible for the increase in NPA, then there should be investigation against them and, if found guilty, they should be punished, the Association said.

According to Venkatachalam, political as well as corporate nexus was also a reason behind the increase in NPAs. Almost 65 per cent of the total bad loan is taken by industry, he added.

He said AIBEA would publish a larger list of about 3,000 bad loan accounts that have defaulted Rs 1 crore and above each. The Association also mulls protesting in front of the defaulted firms and publishing their names in public places.

Last year, AIBEA had released a list of the top-50 bad loan accounts. It had observed an All India Demands Day to highlight the issue on December 5, 2013. The Association has about 500,000 bank employees as members.