Banks have tagged loan accounts with dues of at least 33.5 bln rupees as fraud to the Reserve Bank of India in Oct-Dec, a figure that is seen increasing as more lenders make similar disclosures following the central bank's diktat.
The data is spread across just eight nonperforming accounts such as two companies of Pratibha Group, IL&FS Financial Services, Sintex Industries, SEL Manufacturing of four banks - Punjab & Sind Bank, Indian Bank, Karnataka Bank, and Punjab National Bank. While Il&FS Financial Services along with its group companies are being resolved through the National Company Law Tribunal, SEL Manufacturing was referred for bankruptcy proceedings in October 2017.
In case of Sintex Industries, Delhi High Court has directed both Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank to maintain status quo with respect to declaring its accounts with the banks as fraud until the next hearing. In October, the company filed a writ petition in Delhi High Court challenging the RBI order on classification and reporting of fraud by banks and select financial institutions under which Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank had declared its accounts as fraud.
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A case of fraud worth over Rs 6 crore has been registered