Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that genuine decisions of banks are backed by governmentFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Parliament on Tuesday that the federal government has actually taken a series of steps to safeguard bonafide business choices of banks, which will ease worries of prosecution of senior officials who are accountable for taking them.Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Ms Sitharaman said that changes to Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act), 1988, requiring prior authorization before starting investigation versus a public servant, setting up of an Advisory Board for Banking and Financial Scams (ABBFF) for first level of assessment of suspected frauds of banks and financial institutions in excess of Rs 50 crore, and finalisation of Consolidated Personnel Responsibility Structure are amongst a few of the procedures which the federal government has taken to improve confidence of lenders to enable them to take essential decisions.The minister even more informed that the federal government after assessments with the Central Watchfulness Commission, has actually tightened a consolidated Personnel Responsibility Framework for non-performing assets (NPAs) accounts as much as Rs 50 crore, other than scams cases.
The Personnel Accountability Framework is targeted at safeguarding bona fide decisions taken by the bank officers/workmen while guaranteeing accountability for misdeed or inaction.
It is meant to determine and penalize just those bank officers and staff who are prima facie accountable for the lapses of non-compliance with laid down systems and treatments or misbehavior and non-adherence to the due-diligence standards, she said.This framework will enter into force for accounts classified as NPAs with effect from April 1, 2022.