Bank unions have requested Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to withdraw the FRDI Bill as it proposes to empower authorities with sweeping powers to wind up public sector banks and insurance companies.
Already, there are many rules and legislation in place under the existing Acts that deal with winding up of financial institutions, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) said in its representation to the finance minister.
The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017, was tabled in the Lok Sabha last month. It was referred to the 30-member committee comprising members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
“The objective of this Bill is obviously to heavily empower the new authority with sweeping powers to dismantle and erase public sector financial institutions like banks and insurance companies and hence, it is apparently draconian.
“We demand the withdrawal of this Bill,” it said. UFBU is an umbrella organisation of all banks unions.
Wilful defaulters
In a representation submitted last week, they also demanded declaration of wilful default of bank loans as criminal offence.
The RBI Act should be amended to provide for publication of the names of these defaulters, suggested All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) General Secretary CH Venkatchalam.