Absence of a uniform law governing various lenders has led to an uneven playing field,necessitating the need to review and recast the legislations governing the banking sector,says the RBI. Speaking at the Financial Planning Congress 2011 here RBI Deputy Governor Anand Sinha said each of the statutes was crafted in a contemporaneous setting,reflecting the needs and concerns of the time. Since the origins of the banks have been historically different,they continue to be governed by the respective statutes as well as other general laws. However,the fact that different banks are governed by different laws has resulted in an uneven playing field which needs to be addressed, he said. The senior RBI officials recent speech here was released by the apex bank today in its website. A single,harmonised and uniform legislation applicable to all banks will provide transparency,comprehensiveness and clarity and provide ease of regulation and supervision to the RBI. there is also a need to sort out the conflicts and overlaps between the primary laws governing the banking sector and other applicable laws, Sinha said. Banks are regulated and supervised under the Banking Regulation Act,1949. Public sector banks like the State Bank of India,SBIs subsidiary banks and the nationalised banks,which are constituted under different statutes,are governed by their respective statutes.
