The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a financial penalty of Rs7.5m ($85,479) on ICICI Bank for regulatory non-compliance.

The fine has been imposed due to the bank’s failure to adhere to specific directives regarding the ‘Valuation of Properties – Empanelment of Valuers’ and ‘Opening of Current Accounts by Banks – Need for discipline’.

The penalty follows a Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2024) conducted by RBI, which assessed the bank’s financial status as of 31 March 2024.

The inspection revealed instances of non-compliance with RBI’s directives, prompting the issuance of a notice to the bank, requesting an explanation as to why a penalty should not be applied, according to RBI.

After reviewing the bank’s response to the notice, along with additional submissions and oral arguments presented during a personal hearing, RBI concluded that the following violations warranted the financial penalty.

The bank failed to obtain property valuations from independent valuers for certain mortgage loans.

The bank opened and maintained certain current accounts in violation of existing regulatory standards.

RBI stated that this penalty is based solely on the identified regulatory compliance issues and does not comment on the legality of any transactions or agreements made by the bank with its clients.

Additionally, the imposition of this monetary penalty does not preclude RBI from pursuing further actions against the bank, noted RBI.