Sebi's new RPT rules highlight the problems of tracking such transactions

Disclosures and transparency in RPTs are the best disinfectants against their abuse, according to experts

In February 2019, as regulators stepped up scrutiny of corporate governance and business practices in the fraud-hit housing finance company, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, the resignation letter of one of the independent directors cited allegations of illegal related party transactions (RPTs) involving promoter group companies. Inte­rest­ingly, in its communication to the stock exchange, the company cited “personal reasons” for the resignation of the independent director.

Few months later, in Novem­ber 2019, in another fund-crunched group, Zee Enter­tainment Enterprises, one of the independent directors resigned from the board citing “several instances of poor corporate governance”. Among the reasons mentioned, key ones were