Make public details of loan settlements, CIC tells banks

The details of loan and other settlements entered by banks through a compromise with defaulting parties should be disclosed as it will help in their "transparent functioning", Central Information Commission has held.

The State Bank of India had refused to disclose the information under Right to Information Act citing clauses of commercial confidence and personal information of third parties, with whom such compromise settlements were made.

The bank had rejected the plea of RTI applicant Kulbhushan Jain who sought the information saying its disclosure will adversly affect competitive position of customers who have defaulted on loans.

Jain has sought to know from the bank the information related to cases where various branches of the bank under their respective jurisdiction had compromised or settled with defaulting parties either through court or private negotiations.

He had specifically mentioned that names of third parties with whom such settlements have been made can be withheld to respect their privacy but the bank still refused to disclose the information.

Rejecting the arguments of the bank, Information Commissioner Deepak Sandhu said, "The Commission is of the view that the information sought is neither against the 'commercial confidence' nor 'personal information of the third party."

Ordering the disclosure of information, she said there is "larger public interest" involved in disclosing the settlement amount of the banks with defaulting parties as "it will help in transparenct functioning of the public authority which is the very objective of the RTI Act."