Sberbank may face regulatory action for violating norms: Govt

The government today said foreign lender Sberbank may face regulatory action if it further delays depositing funds into Rural Infrastructure Development Fund and other funds aimed at priority sector lending.
The Reserve Bank and Nabard have reported that Sberbank, a Russian lender, had delayed depositing funds into Rural Infrastructure Development Fund and other funds, following shortfall in meeting priority sector lending targets, Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
"RBI directed Sberbank, vide its letter dated January 12, 2016, to place the deposits forthwith, failing which the bank will attract regulatory action...," Sinha added.
The RBI, in a personal hearing granted to Sberbank on February 3, advised the lender to place the deposits as requisitioned by Nabard, Sinha said.

In May 2010, Sberbank of Russia was granted a licence for banking operations in New Delhi. In September 2010, the Bank of Russia registered the branch of Sberbank of Russia in India, as per the information available on the bank's website.
In reply to a separate question, Sinha said the mandatory provision of spending under CSR under the Companies Act 2013 is not applicable to public sector banks, except IDBI and BMB.

However, PSBs do such spending under RBI guidelines on 'Donation By Banks'. Under the guideline, banks can make donations during a financial year, aggregating up to 1 per cent of their published profit for the previous year.

In case of loss making banks, they can make donations totaling Rs 5 lakh only in a financial year, he said, adding that the spending on donations by banks is voluntary in nature subject to respective Board's approval.
In another reply to a different question on contract workers in the Finance Ministry, Sinha said there are currently 547 such employees.
Further, the Minister said that there are currently 885 vacancies in various departments of the Finance Ministry.
"There is no lackadaisical approach in filling up of posts and all efforts are being made to fill up these posts at the earliest," Sinha added.