SBI Fined Rs.1.00 lac For Rejecting a Sanctioned Loan

Bank cancels loan after approval, set to pay 1 lakh fine-Times of India 02.01.2014

CHENNAI: Cancelling a loan that it had sanctioned has earned State Bank of India a stiff fine of 1 lakh. 

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ruled in favour of a garment export company and directed SBI to pay the owner of the firm the sum as compensation for causing him mental agony. 

The firm's proprietor, K Ramani, applied for a loan of 24 lakh from the Small and Medium Enterprise City Credit Centre of State Bank of India, Egmore.

In his submission to the consumer redressal commission, he said bank officials thoroughly scrutinised documents pertaining to the expansion of his enterprise and sanctioned a loan of 22.5 lakh. He submitted all documents required for the loan, including the title deed of land owned by his daughter as mortgage. 

However, the bank later refused to release the loan, stating that it found discrepancies in the submitted documents. The bank's action was arbitrary and unjust, Ramani said. 

In its counter, the bank said it did release the loan because Ramani had cited an inflated amount for purchases and bank officials had doubts regarding a business unit that had placed an order with his firm. The bank said it could cancel the disbursement of a loan at any stage if doubts arose regarding the viability of the project for which it was extending credit. It said Ramani's daughter was a minor and could not execute a title deed. 

The bench comprising president R Regupathi and judicial member A K Annamalai pointed out that the bank had not verified all documents before sanctioning the loan. 

Though the bank had the authority to reject the loan, the bench questioned the manner in which it exercised that authority, stating that it should not have caused "embarrassment to a customer" and made him "run from pillar to post for several months". The bench said the bank's refusal to disburse the loan after sanctioning it amounted to deficiency in service. 

It directed SBI to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for mental agony to the complainant and 10,000 as costs. However, it said it could not issue directions to the bank to disburse the loan.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Bank-cancels-loan-after-approval-set-to-pay-1-lakh-fine/articleshow/28253600.cms
Robbers loot gold worth 3 crore from bank-
Times of India
BHUBANESWAR: Armed robbers attacked employees of Odisha Gramya Bank's branch at Darpanarayanpur in Nayagarh district on Tuesday and decamped with a large cache of gold. While the bank authorities could not immediately ascertain the value of the stolen gold, they estimate it would be more than Rs 3 crore.

Branch manager Biswanath Sahoo and cashier Bijay Kumar Das were injured while trying to prevent the brazen dacoity that occurred around 4.10pm. Sources said the incident occurred when no customer was present in the bank. Around five employees of the bank were on duty.

Police said a gang of four masked dacoits, stormed into the bank and downed the shutters. They held the bank employees at gunpoint, attacked the staff and snatched the chest's key from them. Bank employees said the miscreants were carrying revolvers. The robbers disconnected the telephone line of the bank and forced the employees to turn off their cell phones.

The operation took them just 15 miutes, after which the robbers fled, sources said. Since the market at Darpanarayanpur was closed on Tuesday, it was easier for the miscreants to escape.

"We have preliminary information about robbery of Rs 12,800 cash and 688 packets of gold coins, mortgaged by customers, who availed loans. We suspect the stolen gold would be worth over Rs 3 crore," another police officer said.

"We have formed separate squads and are looking for the accused. We are also scanning the CCTV footage of the bank," said T J Reddy, SDPO (Sarankul).
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Robbers-loot-gold-worth-3-crore-from-bank/articleshow/28224710.cms