Banks to respond to PIL on debt recovery
Mumbai: The Union Finance Ministry, Govt. of Maharashtra, the Reserve Bank of India and private banks will file their replies on March 2 in response to a PIL challenging the extra constitutional methods employed by banks to collect dues from credit card holders.

Hearing the PIL filed by Consumer Action Network, Chief Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice S A Bobade of Bombay High Court had earlier directed the respondents to file their response and submit a list of recovery agents employed by them. The PIL also named American Express Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Bank and Citibank as respondents.

The PIL alleged that the banks were exploiting the public and by disclosing information about their clients to recovery agents, the banks were encroaching on their privacy. The petitioner said that the recovery agents use "muscle power" to recover debts and loans from customers, adding it had received a number of complaints in this regard.

The PIL also alleged that the recovery agencies were directly or indirectly controlled by politicians and hence the government and RBI did not intervene despite knowing fully well the methods adopted by such agencies.
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AMP Sanmar life cover for TMB deposit scheme
Chennai: AMP Sanmar Life Insurance Co Ltd and the Tamilnad Mercantile Bank have signed an agreement to launch a scheme that bundles a life insurance cover with a recurring deposit scheme of the bank.

Under the Siranjeevee Recurring Deposit Scheme, a life cover will equal the maturity value of the deposit, in addition to the accumulated deposit amount, according to officials of the two companies.

They upper age limit for joining the scheme would be 55 years and the deposit amounts could be as low as Rs100 a month.
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