Mumbai : The banking sector is undergoing a “crisis phase” and in hindsight, can be seen reflected in the way most banks over the last few years increasingly reject the Right to Information (RTI) applications. Estimates suggest that the rejection rates over the year 2016-17 stand at almost 33%, much higher rate as compared to other public authorities under the Government of India. According to a study conducted by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), the resistance to transparency was directly linked to the increasing non-performing assets (NPAs) and the difficult phase in banking sector. The banking sector was saddled with Rs 2.67 lakh crore worth of gross NPAs at the end of the fiscal year 2014-15, which at the end of June last year, went up to Rs 6.89 lakh crore.
The study found that 25 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) received more than 73,000 RTI applications in 2016-17. The RBI, meanwhile, received more than 13,000 applications — an increase of more than 14 per cent over the previous year. However, while the RTI applications received by the 26 banks (including RBI) account for 9 per cent of the total RTIs received by the bodies governed by the Government of India, they account for 33 per cent of the rejections.
Breaking down the numbers, the State Bank of Hyderabad rejected a record 71 per cent of the RTIs it received, whereas the Oriental Bank of Commerce rejected every 2nd application (50%). Corporation Bank’s rejection rate was 47.3% while Andhra Bank rejected 45.9% of the RTI applications received in 2016-17. Punjab National Bank which has been in the news recently, rejected almost 3 of every 10 RTI applications it received.
Venkatesh Nayak, programme director at the CHRI says, “Most use ‘others’ to reject the pleas but as to what criteria covers this category remains a mystery.” Venkatesh Nayak, programme director at the CHRI says, “Most usea ‘others’ to reject the pleas but as to what criteria covers this category remains a mystery.”