Overview

RBI Suit-Filed Accounts - An Overview

CIBIL - India's first credit information bureau - has been established to cater to the credit information requirement of the financial sector and serves as an effective mechanism for curbing the growth of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) constituted a Working Group in December 2001 to examine the possibility of CIBIL performing the role of collecting and disseminating information on suit-filed accounts and list of defaulters, being reported to RBI by banks and notified Financial Institutions (FIs).
 
RBI then decided to implement some of the recommendations of the Working Group, which satisfied the existing legal framework of the time. In their letter no: DL.BC.111/20.16.001/2001-02 dated June 4, 2002; RBI apprised banks, FIs and state financial corporations of the formation of CIBIL and directed them to send, to CIBIL as well as to RBI, data on:

• Suit-filed accounts of Rs. 1 Crore and above, and
• Suit-filed accounts (wilful defaulters) of Rs. 25 Lacs and above

 
Consequently, banks and FIs submitted the list of suit-filed accounts of Rs. 1 Crore and above, as on March 31, 2002 and quarterly updates thereof till December 2002, to CIBIL as well as RBI. They also submitted the list of suit-filed accounts (wilful defaulters) of Rs. 25 Lacs and above as at the end of March, June, September and December 2002. Thereafter, from March 31, 2003 onwards, this data is being submitted to CIBIL alone.
 
At present, CIBIL is maintaining a database on suit-filed accounts of Rs. 1 Crore and above and suit-filed accounts (wilful defaulters) of Rs. 25 Lacs and above. This information is based on an application developed to enable the users to access data through a parameterised search process across banks and companies at various geographical locations. Suit-filed accounts of lower value are being covered in a phased manner.