India’s largest private lender, HDFC Bank Limited, released a clarification on Friday regarding a whistleblower complaint with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the lender levied a fee to deter clients who submitted false documents to obtain loans instead of reporting them to law enforcement.
“The bank categorically states that once such requests are identified as discordant / suspicious, the bank tries to give these people the opportunity to come and clarify. However, in a number of cases, applicants do not respond, ”the bank said in a statement.
HDFC Bank clarified that it does not waive customer handling fees that arise in such discordant / suspicious cases. Processing fees are charged to cover the cost of the bank’s efforts for additional due diligence and verification and not for closing cases, he explained.
“The collection or non-collection of the processing fee does not affect reporting to the internal and Hunter database (industry database) or attempts to report to law enforcement. In fact, the Bank files complaints against the police in a number of cases, where the processing fees have been paid by individuals, ”said HDFC Bank.
(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)
