July 14, 2015 7:49 PM

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RBI concerned over cases against banks in Maha on farm loans

RBI deputy governor S S Mundra today said that initiating criminal proceedings against banks for "not" meeting farm loan target is not the right thing to do. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai today, Mr. Mundra said RBI is deeply concerned and has flagged this issue with the Finance Ministry. His reaction comes amid reports that Maharashtra government has booked managers of 10 nationalised banks and 14 cooperative banks for their alleged failure to provide loans to farmers. Mr. Mundra said banks have done a good job, particularly, in agriculture lending in the last two years. He added that if a state government has to issue some directions to any bank; it should be done through a proper channel and the banking regulator should be approached on such matters. Talking about provision of customer service by banks, Mr. Mundra said each bank has been directed to appoint a chief customer service officer, popularly known as banking ombudsman. He said the apex bank received around 85,000 complaints last year, mostly from the urban and metro areas. He added that RBI is planning to hold some proactive camps in semi-urban areas, essentially, to get feedback from the public and to know the difficulties they are facing. Mr. Mundra also informed that RBI is working towards issuing licenses to small finance and payments banks.

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