The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBU) has requested the Election Commission not to allow the RBI grant banking licences to corporate houses. It says such a step will be a retrograde one. The union said that with the general elections coming up, RBI’s hurry in this regard overlooking the views of the Parliament would be unfair. The RBI has already sent its recommendations to the Election Commission, seeking its permission to grant bank licences to private business and corporate houses. C.H. Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBU, said in a letter to the Election Commission that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had submitted its unanimous report saying that banking is a highly leveraged business involving public money and public welfare, and was of the opinion that it will be more in the fitness of things to keep banking and industry separate.
Meanwhile, according to sources, the names of Infrastructure Development Finance Co, L&T Finance Holdings and LIC Housing Finance are topping the list of prospective licensees that RBI had sent to the Election Commission, The list also includes Reliance Capital, JM Financial and India Post. According to sources, the Bimal Jalan committee, which appraised the applications, has ranked the applicants based on their compliance to the guidelines. This has been presented to the Election Commission. Sources are also indicating that entities like JM Financial, Edelweiss Financial Services and Reliance Capital have been ranked below the microfinance companies like Janalakshmi Financial Services and Bandhan Financial Services.
