RBI fines ICICI, Axis, three other banks for regulatory compliance lapses

The RBI said the banks' non-compliance involved cybersecurity, customer charges, KYC norms, and internal account mismanagement

The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said that it has imposed monetary penalties on ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, IDBI Bank, and Bank of Baroda for deficiencies in regulatory compliance, with the fines going as high as Rs 98 lakh.

Axis Bank faces ₹29.60 lakh penalty

In its statement explaining the action against Axis Bank, RBI said that "the bank routed unauthorised or unrelated entries through certain internal/office accounts."

ICICI Bank gets ₹97.80 lakh fine for multiple violations

The penalty against ICICI was imposed for multiple reasons. The central bank said the bank had failed to report a cyber security incident to RBI within the stipulated timeline. It also failed to put into use a robust software for sending alerts for certain categories of accounts. In the case of credit cards, the bank did not send bills or statements to certain customers, but levied late payment charges on them nonetheless.

 

Bank of Maharashtra and IDBI Bank slapped with ₹31.80 lakh penalty

The Bank of Maharashtra has been penalised for its failure to adhere with certain regulatory requirements in respect of several deposit accounts opened using Aadhaar OTP-based e-KYC in non-face-to-face mode, the central bank said.  Meanwhile, IDBI was penalised because it charged interest in excess of applicable rate of interest in certain KCC accounts.

Bank of Baroda gets a ₹61.40 lakh fine

For Bank of Baroda, the banking regulator said that the bank had failed to ensure that no incentive (non-cash) was paid to its staff engaged in insurance corporate agency service by an insurance company, and it also did not credit interest in certain inoperative / dormant / frozen savings deposit accounts at the prescribed intervals.  The central bank said the penalties are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and are not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the banks with their customers.