Bank of Baroda writes off loans worth Rs 35,715 crore, Refuses to share details under RTI
Bank of Baroda is again involved in a big Controversy. Bank of Baroda (BoB) has written off loans worth Rs 35,715 crore belonging to borrowers with outstanding loans of Rs 100 crore and above over the six financial years from FY20-21 to FY25-26.
The controversy is that Bank of Baroda has refused to disclose the names of the large borrowers whose loans were technically written off or whose accounts were settled after haircuts.
The RTI application was filed by Pune-based activist Vivek Velankar. The RTI shows that Bank of Baroda reported Rs 7,817 crore as the amount written off as a haircut while settling loans of borrowers with dues above Rs 100 crore from FY20-21 to FY25-26.
Bank of Baroda rejected the request, saying the information was personal in nature and related to third-party information and that disclosure would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy. It cited Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005.
While the bank disclosed the aggregate figures, it did not provide the names of the borrowers or account-wise details.
For the technical write-off and recovery queries, BoB said the information sought is not readily available in the requested form and that compiling and collating it would disproportionately divert resources under Section 7(9) of the RTI Act.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. Public sector banks are increasingly refusing to provide information under the RTI Act, citing various reasons. Several people have reported that banks are not providing the requested information under RTI. The Government of India must look into the matter and instruct public sector banks to provide information as required under the RTI Act.
