Parliamentary panel to summon RBI Governor on bank scams

Urjit Patel recently said the RBI does not have adequate powers to deal with the public sector banks.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel. File

Raising the issue of recent bank frauds, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by M. Veerappa Moily, decided to summon Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel next month to answer questions about the health of the banking sector.

“We have invited the RBI Governor on May 17. We will be asking him about the scams and other banking regulations,” said one of the members of the panel.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also a member of the Committee, was present at Tuesday’s meeting.

The washout of the Budget session may have prevented Parliament from discussing the health of the banking sector but the parliamentary panel discussed bank frauds, growing non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks and reports of a cash crunch with Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar.

The Standing Committee also took note of a recent statement of the RBI Governor that the Central bank had limited powers with regard to regulating public sector banks.