Corruption law not working for banks: Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that public sector banks trying to address the problem of non-performing assets through certain steps are anxious of being questioned about decisions by probe agencies years later.

Jaitley said provisions under the Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act are preventing certain banks from taking decisions on innovative steps to address the problem of the stressed assets.

The Finance Minister called for a political consensus and will to address the problem of mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks.

The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2017 aims at replacing an ordinance which had given powers to the Centre to authorise the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against those defaulting on loans. Stating that the banks will take action against those involved in fraud, he added that the RBI may refer more cases to the banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against defaulters.