PSU banks write off over Rs 1.06 lakh cr in last 5 years

Public sector banks have written off loans worth Rs 1,06,170 crore (Rs 1,061.70 billion) in the last 5 years, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

"The RBI data reporting system does not collate data on the number of account holder having more than Rs 1 crore, whose loans were written off," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The amount of bad loans written off or restructured by the PSU banks has more than doubled in the last three years ending March 2014 to Rs 42,447 crore (Rs 424.47 billion).

The rise in bad loans is being attributed to slowdown in the economy which slipped to below 5 per cent in the two consecutive financial years -- 2012-13 and 2013-14.

The loans written off/compromised by PSU banks soared from Rs 20,752 crore (Rs 207.52 billion) in 2011-12 to Rs 32,992 crore (Rs 329.92 billion) in 2012-13 and further to Rs 42,447 crore (Rs 424.47 billion) in 2013-14, as per RBI data.

In a separate reply, Sinha said, "a total of 1,600 wilful defaulters (non-suit filed accounts) of Rs 25,00,000 and above as on March 31, 2014, have been declared by the banks."

A robust mechanism for early detection of signs of distress, prompt restructuring in the case of all viable accounts, taking to recourse to legal mechanisms like Lok Adalats etc are methods of recovery of loans, he said. RBI has issued instructions to banks to review slippages in asset classification in the borrower accounts with outstanding Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) and above by the board of directors of the bank and review NPA accounts which have registered recoveries of Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) and above, he said.

The government has advised public sector banks to constitute a board level committee for monitoring of NPAs and recovery, he added.