RBI Financial Stability Report: Monetary Fines Fall By 47% On Year During June To November

Monetary penalties imposed by the Reserve Bank of India on regulated entities from June to November have come down to nearly Rs 30 crore as against over Rs 57 crore in the same period a year ago, the Financial Stability Report for December 2024 said.

Of the total 153 monetary penalties, the central bank has imposed fines on five public sector banks and five private sector banks. It has penalised three foreign banks, two rural regional banks, 116 cooperative banks, 14 non-banking financial companies, and eight housing financiers. These were on the grounds for non-compliance with RBI's directions.

During June to November 2023, RBI had penalised 146 regulated entities with nine state-owned banks, six private sector banks, one foreign bank, and one payments bank and regional rural bank each. It had also fined 111 cooperative banks, 11 NBFCs, two housing finance companies, and four credit information companies on the same grounds.

Notably, the central bank has stepped up its regulatory action drive by taking a slew of strict actions on several financial institutions this year.

So far this year, the RBI has restricted Paytm Payments Bank from further deposits, credit, or top-up transactions and banned Kotak Mahindra Bank from issuing new credit cards and onboarding new customers through digital means.

It had also barred IIFL Finance from the gold loan business and JM Financial Products from financing against shares and debentures.

ECL Finance was restricted from structured financing deals, and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company from buying fresh bad loans.

Recently, it banned Navi Finserv, Asrivad Microfinance, Aarohan Financial, and DMI Finance from lending fresh loans.

Of the total, it has lifted restrictions on IIFL Finance, JM Financial Products, ECL Finance, Edelweiss ARC, and Navi Finserv.