NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties on three non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for regulatory lapses and non-compliance with various RBI directives.
The RBI notifications on Friday highlighted that these penalties, issued between September 3 and September 11, 2024, were levied on Hewlett Packard Financial Services (India) Private Limited, SMFG India Credit Company Limited, and Muthoot Vehicle & Asset Finance Limited.
On September 3, 2024, the RBI imposed a penalty of Rs 10,40,000 on Hewlett Packard Financial Services (India) Private Limited. This action was taken following an inspection by the RBI based on the company’s financial position as of March 31, 2022. The penalty was levied due to non-compliance with the ‘Know Your Customer (KYC)’ guidelines and other directives applicable to systemically important non-deposit-taking NBFCs.
“This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 58 G read with clause (aa) of sub-section (5) of section 58 B of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934” said the RBI.
On September 4, 2024, SMFG India Credit Company Limited (formerly known as Fullerton India Credit Company Limited) was fined Rs 23,10,000 for violating RBI’s Information Technology (IT) and cybersecurity guidelines.
As per RBI, during a control gap assessment in April 2023, it found that the company failed to include provisions for monitoring and oversight in its contracts with outsourced vendors, neglected to conduct IS audits for network and security systems, and did not retain critical audit logs.
“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated September 4, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 23,10,000/- (Rupees Twenty-three lakh ten thousand only) on SMFG India Credit Company Limited (formerly known as Fullerton lndia Credit Company Limited) (the company) for non-compliance with certain provisions” said RBI.
On September 11, 2024, Muthoot Vehicle & Asset Finance Limited was penalized Rs 7,90,000 for failing to comply with RBI’s liquidity risk management framework and other relevant guidelines.
According to RBI, the statutory inspection revealed that the company had failed to disclose its Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) on its website, did not submit customer data to credit information companies, and failed to issue loan sanction letters in the vernacular language to vehicle loan borrowers.
In each case, the RBI clarified that the penalties were based solely on regulatory compliance deficiencies and were not judgments on the validity of any transactions or agreements. Further actions may be taken by the RBI against these companies if deemed necessary. (ANI)