Bank Unions Express Anger

Bank unions stay away from Swachh Bharat pledge-Indian Express

Bank unions decided to defy the Prime Minister’s call on taking the ‘Swachh Bharat’ mission pledge on Thursday morning. In separate communications to their members, all the eight major bank unions called upon employees and officers to not attend office on Thursday, a public holiday.           

The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), in its communication to members, said: “We learn that in some banks officers / employees are being directed to attend office tomorrow at 9 AM for pledge taking. Since Swachh Bharat is a voluntary mission, it cannot be forced on anyone that too during festive holidays. Hence we call upon our units that employees / officers need not attend office tomorrow. Be guided  accordingly

The All India Bank Officers’ Confederation or AIBOC echoed the stance, with a missive from its general secretary to members stating that the confederation “calls upon all its members not to come to their offices on national holiday but join in taking oath through electronic /s ocial media… as we support the objective of the movement and extend full support but are against the way it is being implemented”.

CH Venkatachalam, general secretary of the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), the largest and oldest trade union of bank employees in the country, said: “Nobody can be compelled to come to office and take the pledge on a national holiday. If people want to take oath they can take it through social media.”

When contacted on the issue, a Central Bank of India spokesperson said that while officers attended in good numbers, the absence of some of the employees was because of the long weekend. “We saw a good attendance and there were around 150-200 employees who attended the pledge at our central office,” he said.

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ICICI Bank asked to pay over Rs 1 lakh for negligence in services-Economic Times


NEW DELHI: ICICI Bank Ltd has been asked by an apex consumer commission to pay a compensation of over Rs one lakh to a Punjab-based family for charging interest on home loan at much higher rates, saying it was "negligent in rendering services".

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC),
presided by Justice V K Jain, asked the bank to pay Rs 1.05 lakh to Dutta family, residents of Mohali, who had availed the loan from the bank in 2005. "Since admittedly, the bank charged interest higher...it was clearly negligent in rendering services to complainants and, therefore, the order passed by the state commission does not call for any interference," the bench said.

Dattas had availed the home loan of Rs 13,35,100 from the bank in 2005 and further an additional loan of Rs three lakh.  In their complaint, they had said that instead of charging interest at the agreed rate, the bank had charged the same at much higher rate.

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Indian Banks need USD 200 bn capital in next 5 years: Fitch--FE


Indian banks will need USD 200 billion additional capital over the next five years to meet Basel III capital adequacy norms and the demand for funds as growth picks up, Fitch Ratings said today.
The rating agency expects improvement in asset quality of Indian banks with pick up in economic growth. 
 
"Progress will be led by improvement in the cyclical sectors, which is likely to benefit from a sustained economic recovery," it said. 
 
The state-owned banks reported stressed assets of around 12 per cent in 2013-14, versus around 4 per cent of private banks and 10 per cent for the banking system, according to Fitch. 
 
The agency said it "expects Indian banks to require over USD 200 billion in capital as growth picks up and banks progress towards Basel III."
Fitch said there is emergence of some early signs of stability in asset-quality at certain large state-owned banks. 
 
The agency expects the trend to gain strength as economic growth picks up pace with India's real GDP growth projected at 5.5 per cent in FY15 and 6.5 per cent in FY16, it said.
"That is against the backdrop of a new government with a clear electoral mandate and a renewed focus on policy reforms, which is likely to set the stage for a cyclical recovery," it added. 
 
It said Indian banks' capital needs are likely to rise incrementally until the full phase-in of the Basel III regime in the financial year ending March 2019. 
 
State-owned banks, which account for around 75 per cent of system assets, will require the bulk of this new capital, as they suffer from lower capitalisation, high stressed assets and weak earnings, Fitch said.