State Bank of Patiala

RBI found violations of its regulatory guidelines in relation to know your customer / anti-money laundering requirements after scrutiny of five banks following a complaint about fictitious accounts opened in the name of a statutory organisation. For ICICI Bank Ltd. and Bank of Baroda, RBI concluded that serious violations were substantiated, including non-adherence to customer identification and acceptance procedures, internal norms on customer identification, and monitoring of transactions in customer accounts. RBI also noted that failure to take timely remedial measures aggravated the seriousness and impact of the contraventions. The penalty was imposed under Section 47(A)(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

ICICI Bank Ltd. must absorb the penalty and, along with the other scrutinized banks, strengthen KYC controls and transaction monitoring to prevent fictitious or unauthorized accounts from being opened and used undetected. The release does not indicate any operating restriction beyond the penalty, but it signals the need for tighter compliance processes and remedial controls.