Parliament proceedings | Banks wrote 1.15 lakh crores. Nine Months of FY21: Anurag Thakur

Banks have written off ₹ 1.15 lakh crore worth of bad loans in the first three quarters of the current financial year, the Lok Sabha was informed on 8 March.

As per RBI guidelines and policy approved by bank boards, non-performing loans, in which full provision is made on completion of four years, are removed from the respective bank’s balance sheet through write-offs. . Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

He said that banks evaluate the impact of write-offs as part of their regular practice to clear their balance-sheets, avail tax benefits and optimize capital as per their board-approved policy. said.

However, Mr. Thakur said, as the borrowers of written loans are liable for repayment and the process of recovery of arrears from the borrower in the written loan accounts continues, writing off is of no benefit to the borrower.

“As per RBI data, Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) collected Rs. 2,36,265 crore, ₹ 2,34,170 crore and ₹ 1,15,038 crore during the first three-quarters of FY 2018-19, FY2019-20 and FY2020. Has written the loan of. -21 respectively, ”he said.

Regarding the written recovery of bank loans, he said, “As per RBI guidelines, banks require a debt recovery policy, duly prescribed by their boards, which determines the mode of recovery of arrears. , Period-wise reduction in target level to non-performing assets, etc. “

Banks have a number of recovery mechanisms available for effecting recovery, such as filing cases in civil courts or in debit recovery tribunals, action under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 In the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, through settlement settlement / settlement and sale of non-performing assets, ”he said.

In the last two financial years and in the first three quarters of the current financial year, according to RBI data, SCBs recovered an amount of ₹ 3,68,636 crore, including a recovery of ₹ 68,219 crore from written loan accounts.

He said that as a result of the government’s strategy of recognition, resolution, recapitalization and reforms, the non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banks have come down from ₹ 2,79,627 crore to assets of ₹ 7,56,560 crore as on December 31, 2020.

Steps to check for unauthorized digital lending apps

Answering another question, Mr. Thakur said that various measures have been taken to check unauthorized digital lending platforms.

He said that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had blocked 27 loan-lending apps under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 to curb fraudulent activities.

He said that members of the general public were warned against unauthorized digital lending platforms / apps, which were an appeal to validate the service provider’s antecedents with translation in local languages ​​being released in local languages ​​in the states .

Mr. Thakur said that at present, there was no proposal to limit banking operations for five days.