IndusInd Bank admitted to have disbursed as many as 84,000 loans in May 2021 without client consent due to a “technical glitch” but termed allegations of evergreening of loans by subsidiary “grossly inaccurate and baseless”.
Disbursing of loans without client consent was first reported by field staff in two days and the glitch was rectified expeditiously, it clarified in a statement.
The clarification came after a report by Economic Times said that anonymous whistleblowers had written to RBI and IndusInd Bank management about evergreening of loans at subsidiary Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL). Evergreening refers to the disbursal of new loans to those accounts which are unable to service previous loans in order to keep them from slipping into non-performing category.
“The bank strongly denies the allegations of ‘evergreening’. All the loans originated and managed by BFIL, including during the COVID period which saw the first and second waves ravaging the countryside, are fully compliant with the regulatory guidelines,” said an official statement from IndusInd Bank.
“Due to a technical glitch in May 2021, nearly 84,000 loans were disbursed without the customer consent getting recorded at the time of loan disbursement,” it added.
It further said operational issues due to the pandemic’s second wave like lockdowns, containment zones and restrictions at the village/panchayat level had necessitated disbursement of some loans in cash.
As of September end, over 26,000 of these 84,000 loans accounts were active with outstanding loans of Rs 34 crore which is 0.12% of the overall loan portfolio and that necessary provisions are carried out against the loans, it added.
The bank further said Standard Operating Procedures have been revised to make biometric authorisation mandatory. Nearly 100% of loan disbursals were made in the bank accounts of customers in October 2021 just like pre-Covid times, the bank statement claimed.
It also said customers faced operations difficulties during the pandemic and some turned to intermittent players, though a large part of them demonstrated a strong intent to repay on many occasions, the bank statement said.
The banks added that help was given to such clients, including through additional liquidity support to the extent of 20% of the outstanding as of February 29, 2020, as applicable under the ECLGS (Emergency credit line guarantee Scheme), restructuring, and additional loan with a longer tenor and lower EWI (equated weekly instalments) for customers, after they cleared of their arrears and with their due consent.
IndusInd Bank reported an increase in stress in microfinance portfolio with gross NPA ratio increasing to 3.01% from 1.69% in June.
