State Bank of India marks Reliance Communications loan as ‘FRAUD’; Anil Ambani’s name to be reported to RBI

The State Bank of India (SBI) has taken a serious step by declaring the loan given to Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCom) as a fraud. This decision is based on financial transactions that took place way back in August 2016.

RCom was once a major telecom company owned by Anil Ambani, but it later shut down and is now going through a legal process to settle its debts, called the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). During this process, a court-appointed Resolution Professional manages the company’s operations. The company’s original board, including Anil Ambani, no longer has control.

Since this loan account is now marked as fraudulent, SBI is required to follow RBI rules:

• It must inform the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) within 7 days.
• If the fraud amount is over Rs 1 crore, the bank must also file a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) within 30 days of informing the RBI.

SBI also plans to report the name of Anil Dhirajlal Ambani, who was the director of RCom during that time, to the RBI. This is because the RBI has rules that require the names of top executives involved in such loan accounts to be reported.

RCom has responded by saying that a resolution plan (a strategy to repay debts or revive the company) has already been prepared and approved by its committee of creditors (the group of lenders). This plan is now waiting for a final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

So far, neither SBI nor Anil Ambani has made any public statement about this latest action. Anil Ambani is the younger brother of Mukesh Ambani, the head of Reliance Industries. While Mukesh runs successful businesses in oil, retail, and telecom (Jio), Anil’s companies like RCom have faced financial troubles in recent years.

What Reliance Communications said?

The Company is undergoing corporate insolvency resolution process (“CIRP”) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (“Code”). A resolution plan has been approved by the committee of creditors of the Company in accordance with the Code and is presently awaiting approval of the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench.

The credit facilities/loans referred to in the Letter from SBI dated June 23, 2025 (received on June 30, 2025) pertain to the period prior to the CIRP of the Company (as identified within the letter), and are required in terms of the Code, to be necessarily resolved as a part of a resolution plan or in liquidation, as the case may be.

Further, during the CIRP, the Company is inter alia protected from, the institution/ continuation of any suits/ proceedings against the Company, including the execution of any judgement, decree or order in any court of law, tribunal, arbitration panel or other authority in light of Section 14(1)(a) of the Code.