The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has fined Standard Chartered Bank-India ₹30 lakh for failing to comply with the terms of its Know Your Customer (KYC) instructions. RBI said the lawsuit alleges “failures in regulatory compliance” and is not intended to testify to the validity of any transaction or agreement that the bank has entered into with its customers.
RBI conducted an inspection of the bank for its financial condition as of March 31, 2021. The investigation revealed that the bank had assigned “multiple customer identification codes” to some of its individual customers. A notice was subsequently issued and, based on the bank’s response, the RBI fined the bank for failing to comply with its instructions.
The central bank has also fined all four credit bureaus for various violations, including failing to maintain accurate credit information. The RBI imposed a total penalty of ₹1 crore on them.
Apex Bank fined Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited, Mumbai ₹24.75 lakh for failure to comply with certain provisions of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act 2005.
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RBI said in its investigation that it found certain data related to credit information maintained by the company was not “accurate and complete.” After the RBI sent the company a notice of showing grounds and reviewed their response, it fined the company ₹24.75 lakh.
Apex bank fined TransUnion CIBIL Limited ₹26 lakh for failure to comply with certain provisions of the Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act 2005. During its investigation, the RBI found that certain data related to the credit information held by the Information provided by the company was not correct and complete.
Also, upon receiving complaints from some borrowers, the company had not updated the credit information concerning them, nor informed them of the steps it had taken to correct discrepancies, as well as the reasons for the inability to meet the timeframe for providing the correct information within 30 days upon receipt of such complaints.
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A further penalty of ₹24.25 lakh was imposed on Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited, Mumbai, for non-compliance with CIC rules. The company’s statutory inspection found similar violations by Equifax as TransUnion. CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Private Limited, Mumbai was also fined ₹25.75 lakh for non-compliance with CICI regulations.
In addition, the central bank imposed fines on seven co-operative banks including UP Co-operative Bank Limited, Lucknow, Ujjain Nagarik Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Ujjain, MP, Panihati Co-operative Bank Ltd and The Berhampur Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Odisha, Solapur Siddheshwar Sahakari Bank Limited, Solapur (Maharashtra), The Uttarpara Co-operative Bank Ltd., West Bengal and Textile Traders Co-operative Bank Ltd., Ahmedabad (Gujarat).
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