Case Brief
What Happened
The Reserve Bank of India imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 4.00 lakh on Bhatpara-Naihati Cooperative Bank Ltd., North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, for contravention of RBI directions applicable to urban cooperative banks. The directions cited were 'Exposure Norms and Statutory / Other Restrictions – UCBs' and 'Management of Advances – UCBs'. RBI said inspection reports based on the bank's financial positions as of March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020 revealed non-compliance with prudential inter-bank exposure norms at both gross and counterparty levels, as well as with directions regarding sanction of gold loans. After considering the bank's reply and submissions, RBI concluded that the charges were substantiated and warranted the penalty. RBI also clarified that the action was based on regulatory compliance deficiencies and was not meant to pronounce on the validity of any customer transaction or agreement.