Lok Sabha Passes Bill Giving Centre Power To Decide Which Digital Payments Are Free Of Merchant Charges

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The Bill amends the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, to give the central government the power to decide which digital payment modes, including those currently exempt from merchant charges such as UPI and RuPay debit cards, will continue to enjoy that protection. At present, Section 10A of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act prohibits banks and payment system providers from levying charges on digital...

Word 'Demand' Not Mandatory In Cheque Dishonour Notice, 'Advice' Can Suffice: Gauhati High Court

The Gauhati High Court has held that a statutory notice under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (which deals with cheque dishonour) need not expressly use the word “demand” if the notice, read as a whole, clearly communicates the requirement to pay the dishonoured cheque amount. Justice Sanjeev Kumar Sharma dismissed the criminal revision petition filed by Protima Dutta Kalita and upheld her conviction, holding that a notice using the word “advice” instead of “demand” can...

Banks Must Share Forensic Audit Reports Before Declaring Accounts Fraudulent: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 31 July held that banks cannot classify a borrower's account as fraudulent without supplying the investigation and forensic audit reports relied upon for such classification, ruling that withholding these documents violates the borrower's right to a fair opportunity of hearing. The Division Bench of Justices B. P. Colabawalla and Somasekhar Sundaresan quashed Canara Bank's order dated 25 February 2026 declaring businessman Jayesh V Valia's account as “fraudulent”...

Bankers' Books Evidence Bill Introduced In Parliament To Recognise Digital Bank Records As Evidence

The Centre has proposed replacing the colonial-era Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891 with the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, which expressly recognises electronic and digital bank records, including those stored on cloud infrastructure, as admissible evidence in legal proceedings. The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, expands the definition of "bankers' books" to include records maintained in physical form as well as those stored...

RBI Appoints Monisha Chakraborty As Executive Director To Oversee Forex And Markets Regulation

The Reserve Bank of India on Monday appointed Monisha Chakraborty as Executive Director with effect from 3 August 2026. Before her appointment, Chakraborty was serving as Chief General Manager-in-Charge in the Reserve Bank of India's Department of Supervision. She has over three decades of experience at the central bank, having worked in the areas of Supervision, Foreign Exchange, and Government and Bank Accounts. Chakraborty has also served as Banking Ombudsman and was part of a technical...

RBI Amends Deposit Interest Rate Directions, Allows Differential Rates For Bulk Deposits

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 30 July amended its directions on interest rates on deposits, permitting banks to offer different interest rates on Rupee bulk deposits based on Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) requirements while mandating uniform interest rate disclosure across branches and customers for similar deposits. The amendments, which come into force from 1 October 2026, were issued after considering stakeholder feedback on the draft directions released by the RBI in June 2026. Under...

Mumbai Court Directs CBI To Furnish Chargesheet To Ex-RCFL CEO Devang Mody In ₹7,623 Crore Fraud Case

A Special CBI Court in Mumbai on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to furnish an electronic copy of the chargesheet to former Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd. (RCFL) Chief Executive Officer and Director Devang Pravin Mody. Mody is accused in the alleged ₹7,623 crore bank fraud case involving Reliance ADA Group companies. The case relates to alleged irregularities in loans extended by a consortium of 31 banks and financial institutions to Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd....

RBI Banking Ombudsman Cannot Review Or Recall Order After Disposing Complaint: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently held that the RBI Banking Ombudsman has no authority to review or recall an order after disposing of a complaint, observing that the Ombudsman becomes functus officio once the proceedings conclude. "As a matter of fact, Banking Ombudsman has no right or authority to review or recall the original Ext.P4 Order. After disposal of the complaint, the Banking Ombudsman becomes functus officio. Accordingly, I find that Ext.R3(c) Order passed by the Banking Ombudsman...

Supreme Court Issues Notice On Ex-Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti's Plea To Stay Conviction In Bank Fraud Case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice on an appeal filed by former Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti against the Delhi High Court's ruling refusing to stay his conviction in the Gram Vikas Bank fraud case. Bharti was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for conspiracy, cheating, and forgery over the fraudulent extension of a fixed deposit.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice and posted the matter for hearing after 4 weeks.In its July 10 judgment, the High...

Delhi High Court Orders Winding Up of Paytm Payments Bank On RBI Plea

The Delhi High Court has recently ordered the winding up of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd on a petition filed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under Sections 38 and 39 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The bank had decided not to oppose the regulator's action.Justice Anish Dayal accepted the RBI's plea for winding up the company and appointed Girikumar M. Nair as the Official Liquidator."The prayer of the RBI seeking winding up of the company under Section 38 read with Section 39 of the Banking...

Calcutta High Court Quashes Criminal Case Against Bajaj Finserv MD, Holds Loan Dispute Civil in Nature

The Calcutta High Court has recently quashed criminal proceedings against the Managing Director of Bajaj Finserv and another company official. It held that allegations arising from the restructuring of a personal loan and the recovery of loan dues disclosed a civil dispute rather than criminal offences such as cheating, criminal breach of trust or forgery.Justice Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee held that the complaint did not contain the particulars necessary to sustain the allegation of forgery. The court...

Wife's Failure To Disclose Husband As Home Loan Co-Borrower Not Material Suppression: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 21 July held that a borrower's failure to disclose that her husband was a co-borrower in a housing loan could not, in the facts of the case, be treated as material suppression so as to deny her release of a property attached under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata quashed the order dated 25 November 2021 passed by the Special Judge under the MPID Act, which had refused to release...