Four big banks in India — Bank of Baroda, RBL Bank, Yes Bank, and State Bank of India — don’t want to share some information about themselves with the public. The information they don’t want to share includes:
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Lists of top defaulters – people or companies who haven’t paid back their loans.
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Non-performing assets (NPAs) – loans that have gone bad because they are not being repaid.
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Inspection reports from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – reviews by the Reserve Bank of India that check how the banks are doing.
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Details about penalties – fines or punishments the banks may have received.
Some citizens asked for this information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, which allows people to request information from government-related bodies. But the banks are trying to stop this information from being made public. Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, RBL Bank, and Yes Bank Appeal RTI Orders at the Central Information Commission (CIC).
What RBI says?
The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) says that the banks’ information can be shared under the RTI Act. They believe it’s important for the public to know about it. The RBI is following a Supreme Court decision from 2015 (called Jayantilal N Mistry vs RBI). This ruling said that the RBI does not keep this information secret for the banks, and such information should be made available to the public. RBI thinks people have the right to know about things like bad loans, penalties, and inspection reports.
The Court also made it clear that the RBI’s main duty is to protect depositors and the public, not to shield banks from embarrassment.
What the banks say?
The banks disagree with the RBI and are opposed to sharing certain information with the public. They argue that releasing this information could harm their business. They also claim that much of it is confidential, meaning it is private and intended only for supervisory purposes. Additionally, the banks want the Supreme Court to reconsider its 2015 ruling, which had stated that such information should be made public.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) is looking into these cases, but they have paused sharing the information for now until a bigger panel makes a final decision. Meanwhile, the RBI keeps saying that the public has a right to know about these matters and that Supreme Court rulings support making this information public.
