NEW DELHI: Not quite convinced by its meeting with Finance Ministry officials, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has summoned Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel on May 17 to get a better picture on the overlapping regulatory issues regarding recent frauds, governance issues at both commercial and public sector banks, and a clear roadmap on Non-Performing Assets (NPA). The standing committee headed by Congress leader M Veerappa Moily held a meeting with officials of the Finance Ministry, which was also attended by former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Singh is a member of the committee.
“The committee raised many questions including the issue of rising NPAs. It discussed the steps taken by the banks on recent frauds. The panel raised queries on matters related to the Axis Bank and the ICICI Bank. While the ministry officials answered some queries, many were referred to the RBI,” said a source privy to the meeting.Regarding the unanswered queries, the panel gave three weeks time to the Finance Ministry to file complete report on them.
As too many questions were referred to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the panel decided to quiz RBI Governor Urjit Patel on a spate of banking scams unearthed in the last few months.“We have invited the RBI Governor on May 17. The committee will ask him about the scams, the overlapping jurisdiction between the RBI and the Finance Ministry, and a clear roadmap on NPAs. There were conflicting views on NPA regulations between the Finance Ministry and the RBI,” a committee member said.
Sources at Finance Ministry confirmed that many questions were directed to the RBI.
“We have explained our role in the various issues raised today. However, many issues are regulated by the RBI and not the Finance Ministry. The role of RBI is well-defined and the ministry does not interfere with that. The ministry cannot reply to questions that need to be answered by the RBI, so only those questions were directed to it,” a source from the Finance Ministry told TNIE.According to sources, apart from the Public Sector Banks, the panel also brought in recent developments at the ICICI and Axis banks in the discussion.
WHAT TRANSPIRED
■ Queries raised on NPAs, bank frauds and recent developments at ICICI Bank and Axis Bank
■ Finance Ministry given three weeks to submit complete report on queries it didn’t answer on Tuesday’s meeting
■ Panel decides to summon Urjit Patel on May 17 as many questions were referred to the RBI