HENCY R SHAH AND ASSOCIATES

  Bob World Fraud: A wake-up call for the banking industry A recent fraud at Bank of Baroda's Bob World app has raised concerns about the security of digital banking platforms in India. According to a report by Al Jazeera, bank employees linked unauthorized mobile numbers to customer accounts in order to onboard them onto the app without their consent. These unauthorized mobile numbers included those of bank staff, managers, guards, their relatives, and bank agents in remote areas. The fraudsters then used these unauthorized mobile numbers to access customer accounts and steal money. An internal audit by Bank of Baroda revealed that the fraudsters had stolen Rs 22 lakh from 362 customers. This fraud is a wake-up call for bank customers in India. It is important to be aware of the risks associated with digital banking and to take steps to protect your accounts. Here are a few tips: Be careful about sharing your personal information. Do not share your bank account details, mobil...

UDGAM Portal: A One-Stop Shop for Unclaimed Deposits The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the Unclaimed Deposits – Gateway to Access inforMation (UDGAM) portal on August 17, 2023, to make it easier for the public to search for their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks in one place. The portal is a centralized web platform that allows users to search for unclaimed deposits by name, account number, or PAN number. Unclaimed deposits are deposits that have not been operated for 10 years or more. After 10 years, banks are required to transfer these deposits to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund, which is maintained by the RBI. UDGAM is a significant step forward in the RBI's efforts to protect the interests of depositors and promote financial inclusion. It is also a valuable tool for banks, as it can help them to reduce the number of unclaimed deposits and improve their customer service. How to use the UDGAM portal To use the UDGAM portal, users simply need to vis...

  RBI to Banks: Return Property Papers to Borrowers Within 30 Days of Repayment The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks and other lenders to release all original movable or immovable property documents within 30 days of full repayment or settlement of loans by borrowers. The new directive, which is part of the RBI’s Responsible Lending Conduct framework, will be applicable to all cases where the release of original property documents is due on or after December 1, 2023. The RBI’s move is a welcome step for borrowers, who have long faced delays and hassles in getting their property papers back after repaying their loans. In the past, banks and lenders have often cited various reasons for the delay, such as the need to verify the repayment or to remove their charges from the property records. However, these delays can cause significant inconvenience to borrowers, who may need to use their property papers for other purposes, such as selling the property or obtaining a new l...

"RBI Report: Rise in Counterfeit Currency and Digital Fraud Challenges Banking System" According to the annual report for 2022-23 released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), there has been an increase in the detection of counterfeit currency notes in the banking system. The report indicates that there was a rise of 14.4 percent in counterfeit currency notes of ₹500 denomination, while those of ₹20 denomination saw an increase of 8.4 percent. Out of all the fake currency notes detected, 4.6 percent were found at the RBI, while 95.4 percent were detected at other banks. On the other hand, counterfeit notes of ₹10 denomination decreased by 11.6 percent, ₹100 denomination notes declined by 14.7 percent, and ₹2,000 denomination notes decreased by 27.9 percent. In terms of value, the share of ₹500 and ₹2,000 banknotes increased to 87.9 percent of the total value of notes in circulation as of March 31, compared to 87.1 percent from the previous year. In terms of volume, ₹500 bankno...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made the decision to withdraw the ₹2000 denomination banknotes from circulation, although they will still be considered legal tender. The RBI has advised banks to immediately stop issuing ₹2000 banknotes. The ₹2000 note was introduced in November 2016 following thxe withdrawal of the ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes at that time. According to sources cited by news agency ANI, the ₹2000 banknotes will continue to be legal tender even after September 30th. The RBI expects that within the four-month timeframe, most of the ₹2000 notes in circulation will be returned to banks. The RBI emphasizes that this is a routine exercise and urges the public not to panic. The RBI stated that the objective of introducing the ₹2000 banknotes was achieved once banknotes in other denominations became readily available. The printing of ₹2000 banknotes was discontinued in 2018-19. The majority of ₹2000 banknotes, about 89%, were issued prior to March 2017 and have reached their e...

RBI puts on hold NUE licensing RBI is said to have put on hold licensing of the New Umbrella Entity (NUE) network, a fintech institution planned as a rival to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Six Groupings, which included Facebook, Google, Amazon, Flipkart, and others, had applied for NUE licenses. RBI will not grant permission to any of the six consortiums to commence business as all of them have fallen short of the RBI's expectations. It looks like none of the applicants have proposed anything novel or a great technology breakthrough that would have made RBI look over it, almost all of the plans were similar to that of the NPCI, which did not enthuse the RBI. NPCI, established by the RBI and banks, runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and other payment systems. NUEs were supposed to set up and operate a new retail digital payment system and manage clearing and settlement systems that could be an alternative to the bank-promoted NPCI. The applica...