RBI Imposes Penalties on Airtel Payments Bank and Two Co-operative Banks for Rule Violations
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), through an order dated March 30, 2026, has imposed a penalty of ₹31.80 lakh on Airtel Payments Bank Limited.
This penalty was imposed because the bank did not comply with certain RBI disclosure requirements in its financial statements. RBI used its powers under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to take this action.
Reason for Penalty
RBI conducted an inspection of the bank under the Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2025) based on its financial position as of March 31, 2025.
After the inspection, RBI found that:
- The bank did not properly disclose certain customer complaints in its financial statements for the year 2024–25.
RBI issued a notice asking the bank to explain. After reviewing the bank’s reply and hearing its explanation, RBI confirmed the violation and imposed the penalty.
Penalty on Davanagere District Central Co-operative Bank
RBI also imposed a penalty of ₹1.50 lakh on The Davanagere District Central Co-operative Bank Limited, Karnataka, through an order dated March 24, 2026.
The penalty was imposed for:
- Violating provisions of the Banking Regulation Act
- Not following Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines
Inspection Details
The bank was inspected by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) based on its financial position as of March 31, 2025.
Key Violations
RBI found the following issues:
- The bank held shares in other co-operative societies, which is not allowed.
- It gave multiple customer IDs instead of a single Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC).
- It did not upload customer KYC data to the Central KYC Records Registry (CKYCR) on time.
After reviewing the bank’s reply and hearing its explanation, RBI confirmed these violations and imposed the penalty.
Penalty on Nagar Sahakari Bank, Etawah
RBI also imposed a penalty of ₹3 lakh on Nagar Sahakari Bank Limited, Etawah (Uttar Pradesh), through an order dated March 23, 2026.
The penalty was imposed for not following RBI rules related to:
- Loans to directors and related parties
- Asset classification and provisioning norms
- Exposure limits
- KYC compliance
Inspection Findings
RBI inspected the bank based on its financial position as of March 31, 2025.
Key Violations
RBI found that the bank:
- Gave loans to directors or related persons
- Did not classify some bad loans as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs)
- Exceeded limits for lending to a single borrower
- Failed to upload KYC data to CKYCR
After reviewing the bank’s reply, RBI confirmed these violations and imposed the penalty.
