Bandhan Bank Confident of Microloan Claim Settlement - NCGTC Audit

Kolkata, Feb 13 (PTI) Private lender Bandhan Bank on Tuesday said it is confident that its claims from the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units will be settled "favourably" and is "fully cooperating" with the audit agency concerned.

The lender said it had earlier taken an insurance cover for a portfolio amounting to Rs 20,800 crore under the CGFMU scheme and had disbursed Rs 1,950 crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECGLS) during the pandemic in the 2020-21 fiscal.

According to the Kolkata-headquartered bank, it claimed and received an amount of Rs 917 crore from the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) in December 2022, as only 15 per cent of the insured amount can be sought.

Subsequently, the bank made a claim of Rs 1,296 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year, which is also lower than the maximum eligible amount of Rs 3,120 crore.

Bandhan Bank MD & CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh said, "The audit conducted by NCGTC to verify the claims should be interpreted in its right spirit and the bank is confident that its claims will be settled favourably".

NCGTC is the implementing agency of credit-guarantee schemes.

He also said, "The bank is fully cooperating with the audit agency."

The lender claimed that 85 per cent of the funds disbursed have been repaid and a provisioning of 88 per cent has been made for the residual NPAs (non-performing assets).

It said NCGTC has conducted an initial audit through an independent agency and made certain observations based on the sample audit.

The agency has also decided to commission a detailed audit of the claims, the bank added.